Should Filip Hronek really be the Canucks’ next captain?

Filip Hronek will be on his way back from the 2026 Olympic Games shortly, where he led Team Czechia in ice time. Might he be leading a different team in a different way soon enough? That’s the current word on the street.

There has been plenty of talk about who might be the next captain of the Vancouver Canucks in the wake of Quinn Hughes’ departure, and most of that talk has centred around Hronek. Back in January, Hronek’s agent Allan Walsh hinted that the team had big plans for Hronek, saying “I’m not going to divulge directly my conversations with management…but let’s just say there is an understanding that Filip Hronek is going to be part of the solution going forward in Vancouver and not someone that they are going to be looking to move.”

A more direct report came from a more indirect source this past week, with Rick Dhaliwal stating outright that “I’ve been hearing [Hronek is] going to be the new captain. He’s a strong, strong candidate to be the new captain.”

It’s not that difficult to see where the sentiment is coming from. Hronek has certainly proved as much of a leader as anyone in this troubled 2025-26 season. Certainly on the ice, anyway, where Hronek is playing the most minutes of his career at a 24:26 nightly average while still producing at as high a clip as ever.

Hronek has been asked to shoulder an enormous load post-Hughes, and has handled it with aplomb. In fact, many will attest that Hronek has played better without Hughes than with him. Which is not to disparage the Canucks’ former captain, or to suggest he held Hronek back, but more to say that Hronek has seemed to step his play up when his team has needed it most. He did the same during Hughes’ injury absence last season, and that’s a mark of leadership – again, of the on-ice variety, anyway.

Hronek has definitely been a stabilizing presence on a blueline that suddenly finds itself half-staffed with rookies and sophomores. And if we’re talking stability, we can’t pretend that Hronek’s contract status doesn’t have anything to do with the captaincy talk. Hronek is signed to what has quickly become a bargain rate of a $7.25 million AAV, and he’s signed until 2032. The Canucks have a couple of other players signed that long in Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, and Conor Garland, but none of them have offered anywhere near the same sort of consistent play as has Hronek.

You want to be able to rely on your captain, and Hronek has been one of the only truly reliable Canucks this year, and is one of the only assets they can reasonably continue to rely on over a long-term period.

But thus far, we’ve only discussed the on-ice aspect of leadership, and there’s more to wearing a ‘C’ on one’s chest in the National Hockey League. Being the best candidate on this Canucks roster is one thing, but it doesn’t necessarily equate to it being a good idea for Hronek to be actually named the Canucks’ next captain.

There is a question of leadership experience. Hronek has only rarely worn an ‘A’ for the Canucks, and has previously been overlooked for alternate captain designation in lieu of folks like Boeser and Tyler Myers. To go right to giving Hronek the ‘C’ might be too big a leap. Hronek has joined Pettersson, Boeser, and Myers as one of the rotating alternates post-Hughes, but he was the last to be named to the quartet.

It’s worth noting that Team Czechia chose not to give Hronek a letter, either, despite relying on him so heavily on the ice. Roman Cervenka was their captain, with David Pastrnak and Radko Gudas each wearing an ‘A.’

There’s no doubt that this has more than a little to do with Hronek’s somewhat notorious dislike of speaking with the media. Public and media relations are a big part of a captain’s job, and it’s a job Hronek has historically preferred not to do. Hronek press conferences have become more frequent as he’s taken on a larger role with the team, but he still tends to keep them as short and sweet as possible.

This isn’t really a strike against Hronek’s character, or anything like that. But there is a question to be asked about taking such a valuable on-ice asset, and forcing them into an off-ice role that is potentially going to make them miserable. There’s little doubt that, if he becomes captain of the Canucks, the demand for Hronek sound-bites is going to increase drastically. The questions asked of the Canucks over the next couple of seasons, what with all the planned losing and tough decisions that will result from that, are probably going to be sharper than ever.

If Hronek is going to be kept around in Vancouver long-term, it makes sense to keep him happy. And sending him out to communicate with the fanbase on a near-nightly basis sounds like a recipe for the exact opposite.

There’s also some awkwardness to consider with that aforementioned contract status. On the one hand, giving the ‘C’ to someone who you can guarantee will be around for the next half-decade or more is a plus for stability. But on the other hand, it can create an uncomfortable situation whenever the team decides it is time to change the leadership dynamic.

The Canucks are in the midst of a changing of the guard in terms of their roster, and it is hoped that the younger generation will eventually take over on the ice – if not, then the rebuild will have failed. Part of that process probably involves a younger player or two joining the leadership team, and perhaps growing into the role of overall leader, too. Braeden Cootes has received plenty of accolades for his personal leadership qualities. Someone like Tom Willander could have the makings of a future leader as well.

Naming Hronek the captain now either means that he remains captain until 2032, at least, or that he is traded or, most awkwardly, stripped of his captaincy. For a decision that is this uncertain, for our aforementioned reasons, it’s an awfully permanent decision.

And it’s perhaps a decision that doesn’t need to be made. There’s really no requirement to name a captain now, or even for the next 2026-27 season. The Canucks have gone without a captain before, most recently in the couple of months between Bo Horvat and Hughes, but also for a full season following the retirement of Henrik Sedin.

Around the league, it’s not at all unusual for a rebuilding team to go captain-less for a stretch. The San Jose Sharks are a good example of this. They don’t have a captain right now, and haven’t since Logan Couture went on permanent LTIR. Everyone knows it’ll be Macklin Celebrini eventually, so the Sharks are just waiting until he is ready.

The Canucks may not have an heir apparent yet, but they do know the general direction that the team is moving in. Without an obvious candidate, it’d be understandable for them to just wait it out, or to pick someone as a temporary placeholder.

Hronek is neither an obvious candidate nor a temporary placeholder. He may be the best option the Canucks currently have, but that’s not the same thing as being the outright right choice, and it’s definitely not the same thing as being a choice that should be made immediately. Not when the Canucks could keep Hronek on as a more official ‘A’ for next year instead, to at least give him a trial run at official leadership before jumping right to captaincy. The team could easily continue to roll with multiple alternates for another season.

If the Canucks absolutely feel the need to name a captain for 2026-27, they’ve got a more straightforward candidate in Tyler Myers. He’s older, more experienced, great with the media, and has worn a letter on his chest on numerous occasions already. Moreover, Myers is only signed for one more season, after which retirement is a distinct possibility.

As a placeholder captain, Myers is pretty much ideal.

But Hronek is not. If the Canucks were to name Hronek captain now, or prior to the 2026-27 season, they’d effectively be naming him captain of not just the present moment, but the next few moments, too – right up to him being the face of the newly-rebuilt Canucks in several years’ team.

We’re not sure Hronek has shown enough captaincy-related competency as of yet to garner such a lengthy and significant commitment.