Former Canucks winger Höglander off to hot start with new team
Nils Höglander scored two goals all of last season with the Vancouver Canucks.
Three games into his first season with the Nashville Predators, Höglander has already surpassed that total.
Now Predators fans are high on the Hög.
The 26-year-old winger scored two goals in Tuesday’s overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, a few days after scoring the game-winning goal against the Dallas Stars. That gives him three goals in three games this season.
What's better than one Nils Höglander goal? TWO Nils Höglander goals 😤 pic.twitter.com/sDuBH0nWaK
— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) October 7, 2026
Höglander’s goals have come entirely around the blue paint, as he’s been in the right spot at the right time to finish off rebounds.
Höglander was the Canucks’ second-round pick in 2019 and made his NHL debut two years later in the 2020-21 season. He had a breakout year in 2023-24 when he scored 24 goals in 80 games and subsequently signed a three-year, $9 million contract extension with the Canucks.
After that, however, Höglander’s production fell off a cliff. He managed just eight goals in 72 games in 2024-25, then missed large chunks of the 2025-26 season with injuries, scoring just two goals in 38 games.
In June, the Canucks cut ties with Höglander, trading him to the Predators for a third-round pick in the 2029 NHL Entry Draft.
Early in the season, it seems like Höglander is eager to make the Canucks regret that decision.
Despite the production, Höglander is getting minimal ice time in Nashville. He’s averaging just 10:56 in ice time per game, a lower average than any of his seasons in Vancouver.
He is, however, getting time on the power play, something he did not get last season with the Canucks. One of his three goals this season came on the power play.