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Canucks: 10 years later, how does Filip Hronek stack up to the rest of the 2016 draft class?
Photo credit: © Bob Frid-Imagn Images
By Tyson Cole
Aug 28, 2026, 12:00 EDTUpdated: Aug 27, 2026, 19:03 EDT
It may have taken 10 years for this outcome to occur, but Filip Hronek is looking like the biggest value of the entire 2016 NHL Draft class – whether it was the Vancouver Canucks who drafted him or not.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t a great draft for your Canucks. At fifth overall, they selected one of the biggest busts of the last 10 drafts in Olli Juolevi, and failed to land an impactful player with their third, fifth, sixth, or two seventh-round picks. Of their six selections, only three played NHL games: Juolevi (41 total, 23 with Canucks), Will Lockwood (54 total, 28 with Canucks) and Rodrigo Abols (64 total, 0 with Canucks). In terms of point production, the Canucks saw just four points from their entire class.
That said, through a trade with the Detroit Red Wings, they’ve landed one of the top defencemen in the class. So, let’s see how Filip Hronek stacks up against this class 10 years later.
First round wifs
Highlighted by Auston Matthews selected first overall, there are multiple draft choices selected high that teams simply missed on, and we don’t have to go far down the board to find them.
Jesse Puljujarvi, Olli Juolevi, Alex Nylander, Tyson Jost, Logan Brown, Michael McLeod, Jake Bean, and Luke Kunin were all selected in the first 15 picks of the draft and have not lived up to the high draft capital they were selected with. Puljujarvi and Juolevi – selected fourth and fifth overall – and McLeod played overseas last season. Nylander and Brown spent the year in the American League, while Jost, Bean, and Kunin are seeing bottom-line and depth deployment, all for different teams than the ones that selected them.
As there is in every draft, there are a handful of late-first-round success stories, such as Tage Thompson and Brett Howden, but for the most part, this was an uninspiring first-round draft class.
Second-round gems
While the first round left teams disappointed, some capitalized on their second-round selections. Andrew Peeke, Jordan Kyrou, Alex DeBrincat, Nathan Bastian, Sam Girard, Ryan Lindgren, Filip Hronek, Carl Grundstrom, and Taylor Raddysh are all second-round picks who have logged over 300 NHL games thus far. A handful of goaltenders, including Carter Hart and Filip Gustavsson, are current NHL starters for their respective teams.
Players drafted around Hronek
As mentioned, Hronek was selected in the second round, 53rd overall by the Red Wings. The three teams selecting ahead of Detroit, the Chicago Blackhawks, Los Angeles Kings, and Philadelphia Flyers, are all kicking themselves today as none of those three players they selected played more than 100 NHL games.
Following Hronek at 53, there were a handful of misses, as expected in the second round; however, the Pittsburgh Penguins nabbed Filip Gustavsson, the Toronto Maple Leafs drafted Carl Grundstrom, and the Tampa Bay Lightning selected Taylor Raddysh. The two forwards, Grundstrom and Raddysh, are now serving in bottom-six roles, while Gustavsson is the 1A in a goaltending situation with Jesper Wallstedt in Minnesota.
How Hronek stacks up
- With 533 games played, Hronek ranks 13th in the class. He trails only DeBrincat, Matthews, Clayton Keller, Matthew Tkachuk, Jesper Bratt, Mikhail Sergachev, PL Dubois, Jakob Chychrun, Girard, Charlie McAvoy, Jost, and Patrik Laine. Hronek ranks fifth among defencemen in games played.
- With 287 points, Hronek ranks 15th in the class. He trails only Matthews, Tkachuk, Keller, DeBrincat, Bratt, Dubois, Adam Fox, Laine, Thompson, Kyrou, Brandon Hagel, Sergachev, McAvoy, and Chychrun. Hronek ranks fifth among defencemen in points.
- With 239 assists, Hronek ranks 10th in the class. He trails only Tkachuk, Keller, Matthews, Fox, Bratt, DeBrincat, Sergachev, McAvoy, and Dubois. Hronek ranks fourth among defencemen in assists.
Conclusion
In a draft class filled with misses at the top, the Hronek selection at the end of the second round has become one of the best in the class. Of the 158 players selected after Hronek, only Bratt and Hagel have more points than him. However, at the premium position as a right-shot, top-pairing blueliner, Hronek may be the best value in the entire class, a decade later.
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