As the Detroit Red Wings advance into their rebuild, one guy who looks like he will play a significant role is Filip Hronek.

He is a big reason why the Wings take a two-game winning streak into their Sunday matinee against the Buffalo Sabres at Little Caesars Arena. Cast into a role bigger than desired when defenseman Danny DeKeyser was lost to injury eight games into the season, Hronek has stood his ground even as the Wings have plummeted to the bottom of the NHL standings.

“He’s been thrown in there playing big minutes, a lot of responsibility and he’s done a great job,” Dylan Larkin said. “Every part of his game has matured — he’s got a great shot, he’s got a great first pass. When he is out there he is a guy that will get the puck on your stick and if you find him for his big one-timer, it’s always a dangerous place. He’s been a big plus for us back there.

“I can’t say enough good things about him. I can’t say how important he is to this hockey team. He’s a warrior and he’s someone we need on the ice.”

Hronek set up Tyler Bertuzzi and Larkin as the Wings defeated the Ottawa Senators, 3-2, in a shootout Friday at home. It's the first time since mid-December the Wings have won two games in a row, but with team in 31st place, what matters more than victories and losses is how the young players are performing. Hronek leads the team with an average ice time of 23:34 minutes, and is third on the team with 25 points in 43 games.

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“What I would say about Fil Hronek is, he’s a winner,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “And winners do lots of things to help you win games and I think as this organization moves forward and we keep finding ways to get better over the long term, he’s certainly a guy who you’d want on your team to win important games, no doubt about it.”

Hronek plays bigger than his 6 feet, 183 pounds. He seems to relish getting into it with opponents — he jostled with Ottawa’s Brady Thachuk at one point — and doesn’t shy from the physical aspect of the game.

“For a little guy he plays hard.,” Bertuzzi said. “He hits. He blocks shots and does all the little things right and he gets rewarded. He’s playing confidently and he’s been unreal for us this year.”

Last season Hronek was sent to the minors to work on his penalty killing skills. This season he plays in all key situations, including the entire two minutes it took to kill off a penalty to Valtteri Filppula in overtime Friday. That’s a heady responsibility for a 22-year-old, but Hronek has shown he’s up for any challenge.

“He’s earned it,” Blashill said. “We started him as the second option on the PK lots this year, and as we kept looking at it, he was the guy that didn’t seem to get scored on as much. He’s had to learn on the fly a little bit. He spent some time learning last year, but he’s had to learn in the NHL, too.

“He’s really, really strong on the puck so when he gets a chance to clear the puck, he clears it. I think he’s got really good instincts. To me, his best qualities are his competitiveness and his instincts, and those two things come out, and certainly on a penalty kill.”

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Hronek dates to the 2016 draft, where the Wings used the second-round pick from the Pavel Datsyuk trade to select him at 53rd overall. Entering Saturday’s games, Hronek ranked fifth among 2016 draft-class defensemen with 48 career points in 89 games.

The plan wasn’t to rely this heavily on Hronek. His development has been fast-tracked because of injuries to veterans, but it’s stayed on track because Hronek hasn’t crumbled.

“I think he plays to his strengths,” Blashill said. “I think he knows what he is. He’s done a really good job of trying to create offense without taking unneeded risk. The one thing he’s done a good job of is being mentally tough. If you weren’t really mentally tough right now, it could be some hard times, but he’s really mentally tough.”

Hronek has made himself a home with the Wings, establishing himself as part of their top-four core. As the rebuild moves forward that is expected to include Moritz Seider and hopefully Dennis Cholowski, but this season, it’s Hronek who is impressing.

“He’s a pretty simple guy,” Larkin said. “I’ve found that most Czech guys are great guys. He’s one of the nicest guys I’ve met in the game. Loves his teammates, loves being around the rink. He just loves playing hockey. There’s not much to him. I think he’s one of the most beloved guys in this room, and I think it’s because he plays hard, he plays the right way, and he’s just a great teammate off the ice.”

Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter.