Canucks' Höglander flipped the script after Boudreau's harsh criticism last season
Nils Höglander is on fire. The Vancouver Canucks forward has six five-on-five goals in his last 11 games, tied for fourth-best among all NHL players.
While the offensive production has been nice to see, perhaps the more impressive progression has been on the defensive side of his game. The 5-foot-9 winger has earned his coach’s trust, as well as more minutes, by playing a complete brand of hockey.
The Swedish winger has come a long way since just last year. He’s spent a lot of time in a sheltered role over the past few seasons, even drawing some public constructive criticism from former Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau midway through last season.
“I think he’s got some scoring potential but he needs to learn how to play the game,” said Boudreau in January 2022. “He’s still a young kid, quite frankly, and I don’t know, someday he might score 40 goals, but if you’re going to hover around the 20-goal mark, you better learn to play both ends of the ice.”
Even through those struggles, the now 22-year-old’s potential has always been obvious.
“As a guy that played overseas, he’s still learning that game. There’s a lot of things that he could do better, but his natural talent is definitely there,” Boudreau said, adding additional context to his comments above.
After the team’s most recent 2-0 win over the Minnesota Wild, a night in which the winger scored the game-winning goal, current Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet was complimentary of Höglander’s performance.
“I thought he had a lot of energy. He gave that line energy and you know what, they were a hard matchup against 97 (Kirill Kaprizov) on their team, who is a hell of a hockey player, and I thought he held his own.”
Let it rip, Högs❗️ pic.twitter.com/xKv8SnIawm
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) December 8, 2023
“That was a good step for Hoggy playing in his own end against their top line. He played some D-zone stuff where you’ve got to defend. I thought he did a hell of a job.”
Höglander played a season-high 15:45 against the Wild. He’s forced his way into the team’s top six and looks to be a great fit next to J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser. The Canucks are controlling 63.1% of the expected goals with that trio on the ice at five-on-five so far this season.
After a successful rookie season, the Canucks elected to take a patient approach to Höglander’s development. He spent the majority of last season in the AHL and that strategy is seemingly paying dividends now.
He’s been one of the Canucks’ best wingers over the last stretch. If he can keep up this level of play, he’ll continue to earn more minutes, giving the Canucks another strong option in the top six.