Filip Hronek

Filip Hronek (born on November 2, 1997 in Hradec Králové) is a Czech ice hockey defenceman currently playing with the Detroit Red Wings of the NHL. Hronek was drafted 53rd overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.

Club career
Hronek played junior hockey with the HC Hradec Králové (later Královští Lvi Hradec Králové and even later HK Hradec Králové) organisation. He made his senior debut playing one game with the HK Hradec Králové of the Tipsport Extraliga during the 2014-15 season. In this season, he also played 33 regular season games and 9 play-off games with the HK Hradec Králové under-18 team and 19 regular season games, 1 play-off game and 4 Extraliga Juniorů qualification games.

During the 2015-16 season, he recorded zero goals and four assists in 40 games with the HK Hradec Králové of the Tipsport Extraliga. In this season, Hronek also played 12 games on loan with the HC Stadion Litoměřice of the WSM Liga and 13 regular season games and 10 play-off games with the HK Hradec Králové under-20 team.

On July 14, 2016, the Detroit Red Wings organisation signed Hronek to a three-year, entry-level contract. Following the completion of the 2016-17 OHL season with the Saginaw Spirit, on March 22, 2017 was Hronek assigned to the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL where he played 10 regular season games and 2 play-off games in this season. In his first season in North America, Hronek recorded 14 goals and 47 assists in 59 games with the Saginaw Spirit. He was tied for fourth among OHL defenceman in scoring with 61 points, and was among the team's leaders with 47 assists (1st), 21 power play points (1st), 14 goals (4th) and 235 shots (2nd) and was named the Spirits' Best Defenceman, and Most Valuable Player and was also selected into the OHL Third All-Star Team. With the Grand Rapids Griffins, he won the Calder Cup.

Hronek spent whole 2017-18 season playing with the Grand Rapids Grffins of the AHL recording 39 points in 67 games in the regular season and 1 point in 5 play-off games and was selected into the AHL All-Rookie Team.

He made his NHL debut with the Detroit Red Wings on October 4, 2018. On October 13, 2018, Hronek scored his first career NHL goal against Tuukka Rask of the Boston Bruins. During the 2018-19 season, Hronek recorded five goals and 18 assists in 46 games with the Red Wings. His 23 points led all Red Wings rookies, and ranked fourth in NHL scoring by a rookie defenceman. He finished the season on a four-game point streak, the longest point streak by a Red Wings rookie defenceman since the 1991-92 season, and posted seven total points in his last six games. Following the completion of the Red Wings' season, he was re-assigned to the Griffins. In this season, he also played 31 regular season games and 5 play-off games with the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL.

Hronek was named the 2019 Red Wings Rookie of the Year in voting conducted by Detroit Sports Media.

Hronek then played the whole 2019-20 season with the Detroit Red Wings of the NHL and recorded 31 points in 65 games.

Due to the delayed start of the 2020-21 North American season, Hronek was loaned to the HK Hradec Králové of the Tipsport Extraliga for the beginning of the 2020-21 season. He played there 22 games and scored 23 points before his return to the Detroit Red Wings of the NHL where he finished the season with 56 games played and 26 points scored.

International career
Hronek played at the 2015 World U18 Championship as a member of the Czech National Team. Then he also participated at the 2016 World Junior Championship.

Hronek captained Czechia at the 2017 World Junior Championship where he was the team's leading defenceman with two goals and two assists in five games and also was named one of the top 3 players on the Czech squad.

Hronek also represented Czechia at the 2018 and 2019 World Hockey Championship s. At the 2019 World Championship, Hronek led the tournament in points (11) for a defenceman and in assists (8) for a defenceman, was selected for the tournament All-Star Team, and was awarded the Best Defenceman of the championship.