There’s a lot of unknowns swirling around injured Vancouver Canucks defenceman Filip Hronek at the moment.
It’s been nearly a week since the blueliner hurt himself at the end of a loss against the Pittsburgh Penguins, and a timeline for his recovery is still not clear. It appeared to be a shoulder injury, something that Hronek has dealt with in the past, although it hasn’t been confirmed if this ailment is related to his previous injury.
The reason for the lack of clarity is that the team and player are still seeking out doctors, hoping to get multiple opinions before making any decisions, according to multiple reports.
“Anybody jumping to conclusions on this doesn’t know what they’re talking about because the Canucks and Hronek are still trying to determine the exact timeline,” explained Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman on Donnie & Dhali.
Clarity should be coming very soon as Hronek continues to meet with doctors. Head coach Rick Tocchet said today that he’s left the team’s current road trip early and has flown back to Vancouver.
“He’s either scheduled or he’s going to see a specialist in the very near future,” continued TSN’s Darren Dreger on Sekeres & Price today.
While there are still some questions as to exactly how long Hronek will be out of the lineup, it’s clear he won’t be back soon. That leaves the Canucks short-handed on defence and has ramped up the trade rumours, although the team has won both games since losing the Czechia-born star to injury.
The team called up Mark Friedman from the AHL, and they’ve been relying on Noah Juulsen to give them solid minutes. It hasn’t cost them thus far, but with Hronek potentially out for months, there is a chance GM Patrik Allvin will pull the trigger on bringing in some more established help.