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Nils Höglander, a Critical Season Once He Returns

By: Brayden Fengler / September 30, 2025

This season was shaping up to be an important one for both the Canucks and Nils Höglander, yet sadly, Höglander will not be joining the team for at least 8-10 weeks now after sustaining a third-period ankle injury in last week’s pre-season contest against the Seattle Kraken.

Nils Hoglander has had surgery on his ankle injury. Now expected out 8-10 weeks.

— Patrick Johnston 🇨🇦 (@risingaction.bsky.social) 2025-09-30T02:33:12.765Z

Once healthy, Höglander will be entering his sixth year playing for the Vancouver Canucks and will be three years removed from the 2022-23 season, when he spent the majority of that season in the AHL to further his development.

With Höglander turning 25 years old before the end of this year, has he made his case to remain a part of this team, and if not, does he have enough time to do so with his stunted start?

Höglander Over the Years

As many fans will remember, Nils Höglander entered the Canucks scene during a very tumultuous 2020-21 season. The NHL’s first season after the COVID-impacted 2019-20 season.

This was a very bland and somewhat dark time for the Canucks, but Höglander brought with him a real spark of hope as he performed exceptionally well during 56 NHL games that season, earning 27 points, nearly evenly split between goals and assists.

The following year, Höglander played just over the same number of games (60), but earned only 18 points. That season followed with a trip to the AHL, where we earned 32 points in 45 games for the Abbotsford Canucks, before later playing with the main club again for just 25 games.

The 2023-24 season saw Höglander’s longest string of NHL action in a single season, playing nearly all possible games. Höglander had his biggest total points impact to date with 36 points, 24 of them being goals.

The results of that season looked promising not only for the Canucks, but for Höglander as well. A big part of his success was likely tied to the team’s overall success that season, which resulted in a respectable playoff run.

Fast forward to last year, and while Höglander played almost as many games as the season prior at 72, just as the team itself seemed to fall off a cliff after their previous season’s highs, so did Höglander. Höglander earned 25 points in the 2024-25 season, two fewer than he did in the 56 games that he played during his first NHL season.

Equally troubling was the breakdown of goals and assists compared to the season prior. As I just stated, Höglander earned 24 goals in the 2023-24 season, accounting for 66% of his total points. In the 2025-26 season, Höglander scored only 8 goals to his name, accounting for just 32% of his limited production.

It’s understandable that some players’ production may ebb and flow with the team’s success, but good players find a way, and it’s important, even for depth pieces, not to experience the same season-to-season fluctuation in production that Höglander has most recently.

If Höglander can’t level out the ups and downs at this point in his career, it makes it harder to see him as a reliable piece to continue building with.

Höglander’s Deployment

Last year, Höglander spent most of his time down the line-up with Teddy Blueger and Keifer Sherwood. This combo accounted for 10% of his total deployment at 85:01 minutes of ice time on the year.

A close second line combo for Höglander was with Conor Garland and Pius Suter at 9% rounded out with the deployment option number three and four for Höglander that saw him with Elias Pettersson and either Garland or Jake Debrusk at 7.4% of 7.1% of the time.

Needless to say, Hoglander did not find a stable home for most of last season and the most prominent deployment he did see was in a depth role, removed from line mates that helped him succeed the season before.

During the 2023-24 season, Höglander played for 121 minutes on a line with J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser. In the same season, he also spent 84 minutes and 9.2% of his total deployment with Brock Boeser and Elias Pettersson.

It’s clear to see that both Miller’s move to New York and Pettersson’s downturn in production seriously impacted Höglander’s production.

He understandably could not come close to accomplishing what he did the season prior, with his new line mates that year. While the team was moving pieces around, trying to jump-start EP40, Höglander unfortunately suffered as a result.

This Year

During the pre-season that Höglander did take part in, we’ve seen him consistently play with Filip Chytil and MacKenzie MacEachern. It’s far too early to gauge what impact these lines will have on his actual deployment this season.

Especially considering the unknowns of what might change on the team before his return, but I must say I don’t hate that line combo for him. While Filip Chytil doesn’t have the largest sample size or most inspired production over his last few seasons in New York, he does have the history and potential to be a player who can work well as a heavy hitter, which is what Höglander needs on his lines.

This wouldn’t be to the levels or peak of Pettersson, but this to me sounds better than sticking him down the line-up with even clearer depth pieces.

Expectations

Höglander is in the first year of a three-year deal. If he returns healthy in a few months, the time left on his contract may make him more appealing to other teams. With his deal, teams would get some commitment from a player with upside, but it won’t cost them a lot in the near future.

A week ago, I would have said that by American Thanksgiving, the Canucks need to decide on a direction for Höglander. In light of recent developments, they should wait until early in the new year. Ultimately, if the team can’t find a place on their roster that will help the Swede stay elevated to the levels we know he can play at, it would be valid for the Canucks to move him.

As much as it would be a great story for Höglander to work out long-term in Vancouver, sometimes the shoe just doesn’t fit. Vancouver can’t be trying him on forever. The 25-year-old has real value; the Canucks should be prepared at some point this season to extract that value from other teams if they can’t get it from Höglander himself.