Vancouver Canucks’ General Manager Patrik Allvin announced on Tuesday afternoon that defenceman Filip Hronek will be out for approximately eight weeks after undergoing a successful procedure on his lower body.

It was speculated that Hronek might need surgery on his shoulder after crashing into the boards late in a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. However, Hronek won’t require surgery on his upper body injury; instead, he had a procedure to clean up a lower-body injury while he heals back to full health.

The Czech defenceman has logged heavy minutes for the Canucks this season. While playing alongside Canucks captain Quinn Hughes, Hronek is averaging 23:36 minutes of ice time this season, topping out over 25 minutes in six of his 21 games and over 24 minutes in 10 games. This includes his 27:38 time logged against the Ottawa Senators when he did an admirable job filling in for Hughes after he was ejected for a cross-check on Josh Norris.

Before the injury, Hronek was starting to get more involved in the offence, logging an assist in three of his previous four games with a plus-six rating. On the season, Hronek has one goal, eight assists for nine points, 18 penalty minutes, 24 shots, 21 blocked shots, and 36 hits, averaging 23:36 minutes of ice time.

The Canucks have played two games since Hronek’s absence, squeaking out two overtime wins against the Buffalo Sabres and Detroit Red Wings. Tyler Myers was the beneficiary of filling in Hronek’s spot with Hughes, where he has finished with a plus-one rating and four shots on goal while averaging 22:47 minutes of ice time – the two highest TOI games of the season. After Monday’s practice in Minnesota, Tocchet switched up his pairings and rewarded Noah Juulsen with Hronek’s spot next to Hughes after his massive shot blocks against the Red Wings.

Vancouver will now need big contributions from the other right-shot defencemen on the team: Myers, Juulsen, Vincent Desharnais and Mark Friedman. The Canucks have been rumoured to be active in the trade market for a defenceman. Hronek’s injury might force the Canucks to accelerate that process.