Vancouver Canucks defensive duo Quinn Hughes & Filip Hronek turning heads around the National Hockey League.
The Vancouver Canucks may have had a tough start to the 2024-25 season with back-to-back losses, but they were able to pick up a point in both games and will look to rebound as they kick off their road trip on Tuesday in Tampa Bay.
It’s still very early and there’s no need to panic whatsoever because in both games, the Canucks have looked pretty good, especially the defensive pairing of Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek. The duo were one of the best defensive pairings in the entire National Hockey League last year, especially in the first half of the season and so far, it looks like that’ll be the case once again.
Noah Strang of Daily Hive Offside shared some of the advanced stats where the pairing of Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek are excelling at to start the 2024-25 campaign and yes, it’s early, but it’s still a very positive sign to see the chemistry the two of them have.
With Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek on the ice, the team’s Corsi For Percentage (CF%), which is calculated looking at puck possession, is currently 67.31%, which is solid to say the least.
Another stat that the Canucks have been very strong in when Hughes and Hronek are on the ice is five-on-five scoring chances. Currently, after the first two games of the year, the Canucks have 21 five-on-five scoring chances with the duo on the ice and only five against them.
If you’re the Canucks’ coaching staff, this is exactly what you want to see from your top defensive pairing, especially Filip Hronek. We all know what Quinn Hughes is capable of, especially from an offensive standpoint, but after a tough second half in 2023-24, it’s great to see Hronek having some success early on in the new season.