By: Brayden Fengler / September 27, 2024 Nils Höglander is 23 years old, is turning 24 before the end of the calendar year, and the Swedish-born player is about to begin his 5th season as a Vancouver Canuck. This Canucks team has improved drastically since Höglander’s initial season with the team starting back in 2020.
But now that the club has grown in a positive direction with and around Höglander, does he still have a place on this version of the team?
With the Canucks, Höglander has spent time up, down, and even off the line-up. Two seasons ago Höglander was sent down to Abbotsford to continue his development after having played over 140 NHL games to that point in his career.
This minor league development time has no doubt had a positive impact on his game, and has only increased his value to the club. But is he invaluable to the fabric of this club, or does his real value reside in the possibility of selling high on his current production and potential?
Höglander’s Road to this Season
Höglander had his best season with the Canucks last year, a season which saw him play full-time up in the NHL after spending all of the 2022-23 season in the AHL system. Not only does Höglander have the record of a strong previous campaign on his resume, but at every significant turn leading up to the regular season he has impressed.
Höglander got direct praise from Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet ahead of training camp, as Tocchet stated to the media that Hoglander tested the best on the Canucks when it came to their internal fitness testing.
On the ice at training camp, Höglander looked like his off-season training had more than paid off as well. Although his roster spot ahead of this season and going into camp was never seriously in question, he certainly made thoughts like that not even worth considering with his effort on display at camp.
In the Canucks first game of the pre-season on Tuesday night Höglander earned himself the teams and his own first goal of the pre-season. Höglander’s goal came off the back of a team effort, but it also demonstrated Nils’ surgical capabilities regarding his accuracy with the puck in tight.
Höglander’s Spot in the Line-up
During Tuesday’s pre-season game, Höglander played on the second line with Aatu Räty and Conor Garland. Heavy hitters like Elias Pettersson, and J.T. Miller were absent from the Canucks roster that night, which sent Hoglander further up the line-up than he is guaranteed to be this season.
With that said, the Canucks are still dealing with absences such as Dakota Joshua, who played on the second line with Garland a lot last year. There is a chance that Höglander, at least initially, starts the year in the top six.
Höglander showed early on in his time in Vancouver that he could play with the likes of Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, and the company and could be a great addition to those lines. With that said, last season Höglander was also seeing a lot of mid to bottom-six deployment and minutes, playing with the likes of Pius Suter and Sam Lafferty.
Once the team is fully healthy Höglander’s ability to shine further down the line-up is likely to make him too irresistible to place on the third line-up due to his reliable depth production.
The Future of Höglander in Vancouver
The question then becomes, if Höglander is a capable top-six player who is going to spend most of his deployment in the bottom six, is his best use for Vancouver just indefinite depth deployment? Are the Canucks better off using his early season top-six deployment as a showcase, with an eye for trading him later this season?
Höglander is a 20+ goal scorer making just over $1M a year, and will still be an RFA after his contract is finished this season. Players like Höglander are hard to find and can fetch the Canucks something they might need more. What immediately comes to mind is defensive depth, so the team can keep Hughes and Hronik together on the top pair without compromising their defensive depth.
Improved and Improved
Höglander has not yet reached his development ceiling. The young player clearly has more to prove and hopefully more to show. It can seem scary to walk away from a piece like Höglander who is starting to grow into the player that the team has long cultivated him to be.
Sometimes in sports, players outperform expectations and prove too valuable for the team to trade away. Although a no-brainer while looking at the situation in a vacuum, the decision to keep a player rather than trade them may result in leaving more value on the table in the big picture. I fear that would be the case if the Canucks don’t seriously look at trading #21.