This Canucks season could be make-or-break for Höglander

Aug 22 2022, 10:11 pm

Just where Nils Höglander fits with the Vancouver Canucks will be one of the most interesting things to follow in training camp this year.

In adding Ilya Mikheyev and Andrei Kuzmenko to their roster this offseason, the Canucks now boast 10 players who most would consider “top-nine forwards.” Where does that leave Höglander? Given how the 21-year-old was used under Bruce Boudreau last season, we could see the undersized winger start on the fourth line.

Höglander was a nice surprise in an otherwise miserable 2020-21 season for the Canucks.

That was under Travis Green.

The 5-foot-9, 185-pound winger had an impressive rookie season, finishing fourth among Canucks forwards in scoring, with 27 points in 56 games.

He played high up the lineup to start last season too. Prior to Travis Green getting fired in December, Höglander was tied for fifth in points among Canucks forwards with Brock Boeser, and ahead of the likes of Tanner Pearson and Vasily Podkolzin.

But while seemingly everyone showed improvement under Boudreau, Höglander did not.

Höglander saw his average ice time drop from 14:23 under Green to 12:10 under Boudreau, which was less than players like Jason Dickinson, Juho Lammikko, Matthew Highmore, and Alex Chiasson.

As such, Höglander didn’t exactly light it up under his new coach, scoring just eight points in 35 games prior to his season ending in mid-March due to a groin injury.

On January 18, Boudreau complimented Höglander’s “natural talent,” but criticized his defensive play.

“He’s got some scoring potential, but he needs to learn how to play the game,” Boudreau said at the time. “He’s still a young kid, quite frankly… if you’re going to hover around the 20-goal mark, you better learn to play both ends of the ice.”

If the Canucks don’t move a top-nine forward in a trade before the start of the season, it’s easy to envision a scenario where Höglander, who turns 22 this December, ends up on the fourth line.

Certainly, he won’t be slotted ahead of the likes of J.T. Miller, Elias Pettersson, Bo Horvat, Brock Boeser, or Conor Garland. Podkolzin outplayed Höglander in the second half of last season and is thought to have the higher ceiling. Pearson was used as a top-six forward under Boudreau and is a lock to be in the top-nine.

Then there are the new acquisitions, Mikheyev and Kuzmenko. Mikheyev just signed a $19 million contract, so don’t bet on him slotting in on the fourth line. It remains to be seen how good Kuzmenko can be at the NHL level, but given the promises that were likely made to lure him to Vancouver, assume he’ll be given a chance to succeed, at least to begin with.

That leaves Höglander, the Canucks’ second-round pick from the 2019 draft. If Vancouver’s crowded forward group doesn’t get thinned out before opening night, the pressure will be on to prove he belongs in Boudreau’s top nine.

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