I don't remember him taking that big of a beating here. He was definitely criticized but not like Dekeyser or Ericsson.
Still, I think part of the criticism was that when it was clear Cholowski was a bust we got really excited that Hronek turned into something and expectations probably got too high. After the failure of Cholowski had faded Hronek was being judged against those high expectations.
He's a good dman. Honestly for me Stevie trading him is the biggest indication of where he thinks the Wings are at in the rebuild. The answer being not that close. You don't trade Hronek if you're close. You trade him if you think this team is still lacking a lot of higher end talent.
You trade Hronek because he's fools gold and will want to make more money than we should comfortably pay a #3/4 guy. And Detroit replaced him on RD with an upgrade in Gostisbehere as their #3/4 guy for 275k less than Hronek makes.
Right now he's doing great with Hughes carrying the real load and it's making Hronek look much better than he really is. I have my gripes about Hronek because what I value most in a defenseman is very different than what Hronek provides, but I dont think he's bad per se. I value someone like Walman much more because he can transition the puck better, and because he can defend the crease and intercept passes much better than Hronek does. But Walman also doesn't generate offense as well, so I understand there's a trade off.
Henkka touched on it a bit; Hronek looking good next to Hughes will push both their cap hits up and make a team with shallow depth unable to get even deeper. Hronek wouldn't have the kind of defensive partner on Detroit that can shelter him the way Hughes does so he wouldn't do as well here.
Good for Hronek. Good for us because the trade landed Detroit ASP who looks terrific in Skelleftea right now. Considering Ghost is around as a stopgap on RD for this season and hopefully the next 3 or so, it's a win/win.