"He looked great. He always looks great."
That was Quinn Hughes on Monday, speaking about Filip Hronek, who returned to practice with the Vancouver Canucks for the first time since he injured his shoulder at the end of a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on November 27.
Hughes had a big smile on his face as soon as he was asked about Hronek and it was clear that he was eagerly anticipating playing with his defence partner again, even if he wasn't sure when exactly that would be.
"I don't know what his plan is tomorrow but I'm sure he'll be back in the next couple of days," said Hughes. "We, obviously, desperately need him."
He's not wrong. The Canucks have won just eight of the 21 games Hronek has been out, with an 8-6-7 record. It's a stretch that has seen the Canucks fall below the playoff bar in the Western Conference and has shone a spotlight on the defence corps' struggles to move the puck aside from Hughes.
According to head coach Rick Tocchet, Hronek will be back in the lineup for the Canucks on Tuesday as they face the Winnipeg Jets.
"I think he's going to go tonight," said Tocchet. "He's worked really hard, he's had a lot of skates and tested himself very hard the last seven days. So, he's ready to go. He wants to play, so I'm not going to keep him out."
Tocchet said that Hronek would go right back on the top pairing with Hughes but would "manage [his] minutes" to make sure he doesn't get overextended and overworked after so much time off.
It wasn't as much time off as expected, though. The Canucks announced on December 3 that Hronek would be out for eight weeks while recovering from his upper-body injury and a surgical procedure on a lower-body issue. That was exactly six weeks ago, so Hronek is two weeks ahead of schedule.
One has to hope that the Canucks and Hronek are not rushing back to play too quickly. Of course, it's also possible that the Canucks' initial timeline was a conservative one.
Hronek's return should provide an emotional boost to the Canucks, as evidenced by Hughes' big smile on Monday, but he also makes a big difference on the ice.
"What he can do with the puck, the way him and Huggy play together, it's elite status, the way they play," said Tocchet. "He's a jack of all trades. He's really excited about playing and we're excited to have him."
This will be the first time this season that all of Hughes, Hronek, Elias Pettersson, J.T. Miller, and Thatcher Demko have been in the lineup together, though it also isn't, as Demko will be on the bench as the backup to Kevin Lankinen. It illustrates just how tough the first half of the season has been for the Canucks.
"There really has been a lot of adversity this year," said Hughes. "So, I think for everyone to kind of stay on the yellow brick road here and continue to focus on what we can control and do what we need to do, it's been a good sign."
Vancouver Canucks projected lines
Hronek's return means Guillaume Brisebois comes out of the lineup, while also bumping Tyler Myers down to the second pair. Vincent Desharnais will again be a healthy cratc, with Noah Juulsen playing on the third pair with Carson Soucy.
Here are the Canucks' projected lines, which will be updated when they take the ice for warmup:
After Saturday's shutout win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Canucks will presumably keep their forward lines the same. The team was able to roll all four lines on Saturday, splitting ice time fairly evenly and Tocchet seemed happy with everyone's performance in their roles.
The Canucks' starting goaltender will be Kevin Lankinen, which suggests they're riding the hot hand by giving Lankinen a second straight start instead of going back to Demko.
Lankinen has been the better of the two goaltenders this season as Demko has yet to fully find his rhythm after returning from injury. Lankinen has a .906 save percentage to Demko's .883.
Winnipeg Jets projected lines
The Jets have been one of the best teams in the NHL this season and are currently tied with the Vegas Golden Knights and Washington Capitals for top spot in the NHL with 61 points. They boast the league's best goal differential at plus-48 aided by the league's best power play, which is clicking along at a stunning 32.3%, challenging the 2022-23 Edmonton Oilers' 32.4% for the best power play percentage in NHL history.
The Jets' offence is powered by three forwards scoring at better than a point-per-game pace. Kyle Connor leads the way with 23 goals and 55 points in 44 games, Mark Scheifele is third in the NHL in goalscoring with 25 goals and 50 points in 44 games, and Nikolaj Ehlers has been great when healthy with 14 goals and 36 points in 35 games.
Meanwhile, Josh Morrissey is third on the team in scoring with 39 points in 44 games, good for fourth in scoring among NHL defencemen.
Here are the Jets' projected lines, courtesy of colour commentator Mitchell Clinton:
Kyle Connor - Mark Scheifele - Gabriel Vilardi
Nikolaj Ehlers - Adam Lowry - Alex Iafallo
Nino Niederreiter - Rasmus Kupari - Cole Perfetti
Dominic Toninato - David Gustafsson - Morgan Barron
Josh Morrissey - Dylan DeMelo
Dylan Samberg - Neal Pionk
Logan Stanley - Ville Heinola
Connor Hellebuyck
Eric Comrie
While Connor, Scheifele, and Ehlers lead the way, the Jets' secondary scoring shouldn't be discounted. Gabriel Vilardi, Adam Lowry, and Nino Niederreiter are all in the double digits in goals, with Vilardi especially dangerous on the power play: he leads the Jets' with 10 power play goals this season.
The Jets' starting goaltender is expected to be Connor Hellebuyck, who was just named the NHL's first star of the week after a dominant performance in his last two games. He leads the NHL in save percentage at .928 and has a 26-6-2 record with six shutouts.
The Canucks will need to find a way to get more pucks on net to make Hellebuyck's life a little more difficult in the Jets' net. He's only faced 30+ shots once in his last eight starts.
