The Athletic’s Craig Custance spoke with Red Wings/Team USA coach Jeff Blashill and Wings director of player recruitment/Czech team GM Jiri Fischer about the impressions made by Dylan Larkin and Filip Hronek (respectively) at the World Championship.
According to Custance, Hronek has continued to take steps forward at the Worlds:
Defenseman Filip Hronek, one of the Red Wings’ three top prospects, has emerged as an important player for the Czechs, a team that features another Detroit prospect on defense in Libor Sulak. Fischer, as the Red Wings’ director of player evaluation, talks often to team management, but after Grand Rapids was eliminated from the AHL playoffs, he called Ken Holland and Ryan Martin to get formal permission to add Hronek to the Czech national team.
He was added with modest expectations. Hronek joined the Czech Republic as a No. 7 defenseman but has quickly moved up the depth chart, where he now runs a power play that features Pastrnak and Krejci.
He’s averaging over 15 minutes per game in his first experience with the men’s national team and has impressed Fischer with his willingness to try and make plays as a young defenseman.
“The coaches are really getting to know him as a player and as the games went on, he performed and gained more ice time,” Fischer said. “Now, he’s running one of the power plays. We’re heading into the quarterfinals. He’s played with no fear of making plays. That’s the big thing for any young player, especially young defensemen really, for the first time, getting time with star players.”
Custance continues, discussing Larkin’s progress made at the Worlds…
Moving up the depth chart for the Czech’s…meh, big deal.
Let’s see you move past guys like Ouellet, Jensen, Kronwall, and Ericsson. LOL. Such a logjam of trash and Kenny is thinking about adding Green. Sigh. How about you just let Hronek run the #2 PP instead of Green? The #1 unit of course must belong to Kronwall. You know, for reasons.
Sounds like Czech management didnt even know what they had.
I haven’t watched any of the czech games but its nice to hear positive things about one of our higher D picks in the last few years.
Not when it’s for Czech’s team. I mean what a bunch of nobodies, anyone could’ve made that roster. Nothing to be proud of right?
That’s extreme hyperbole!
Heavy sarcasm my friend. I am super proud and happy Hronek play as good as he did. Same goes with Red Wings players at the world’s. I think they’ve all done a good job and helped provide some decently entertaining games
I misinterpreted—my apologies!
Hronek is the one prospect I find most intriguing, in that
he seems to have great skill, vision, sense and timing as well as enough mobility, and the confidence and competitive makeup to be assertive and make plays.
Yes, having the opportunity to play with and show you can fit in well with some very skilled players and big names. Seems like that would help accelerate a top prospect’s development.
That’s better than the BS and hyperbole above.
Thanks for the focus.
Note my apology above!
It’s all good lol it is a BS hyperbole anyway you put it though haha
I like how Babs was asked about which young players in the tourney stood out to him. He immediately named Hronek and said he looked NHL ready. Hronek should feel confident next fall.