Confirmed Signing with Link: [VAN] F Nils Hoglander signs extension with the Canucks (3 years, $3M AAV; begins 2025-26)

[BWJM]

He can move up and down depending on performance but i rather have him over Heinen for the 1st line

Agreed. Feel like he'd be a good fit with Miller!

 

[nergish]

Nic Robertson should try to become an every day player first.

Yup.

They are indeed comparable players stylistically/physically, but Robertson has to put a lot of work in to even get close to where Hoglander is today...

 

[NYVanfan]

24 goals with no powerplay time, and pretty much on the 3rd line. Opportunist winger with skill and speed, but lacks size, decent hands.

question is, if he repeated this year, how much would he have cost next summer? (more)
then how likely is that (pretty)
gives you an idea of how whether this signing is good (pretty)

 

[Billy Kvcmu]

question is, if he repeated this year, how much would he have cost next summer? (more)
then how likely is that (pretty)
gives you an idea of how whether this signing is good (pretty)

Even if he regress

3m for a bottom 6 grinder when the cap exceeds 100m by 2027 is perfectly fine

 

[beardo]

Unsustainable Shooting% is a big part of it. It's also just, the reality of the way he scores most of his goals. He'll likely always be a slightly above average% shooter, but the nature of those "broken play" goals he tends to primarily score, is prone to huge volatility and swings in success year over year. He's not a "pure sniper" or "volume shooter", and he's not going to be a fixture or focal point on a Top PP Unit.

Which...he may still be "only 23" but that realistically caps his "upside". He also just is not a good playmaker and plays a totally disjointed game that is going to continue to make it difficult for him to compile a lot more points, which tends to be a little more stable than his type of goal-scoring in particular. So his offensive output is likely to be a lot more "swingy" than average. Year over year, and even within a season.


Which is why so many Canucks fans expect he will regress next year in his production. Because it's heavily goal-driven, and predominantly off broken plays. Most indicators including analytics and the "eye test"...suggest that was likely one of the "high points" of that swing. Which means it's more likely to swing down rather than up.

Bad take. This will age like milk.

 

[Coffees]

Bad take. This will age like milk.

@BWJM

 

[biturbo19]

I think people see his hands(which are fantastic), speed, and size and think he's a perimeter oriented player.

Kid honestly plays like Thomas Holmstrom, he has some of the best hands in tight spaces I've seen in Canucks history. I'd wager 75% of his goals where either from deflections, rebounds, second hand opportunities, and just being in the right place.

Rather than using his speed to deke out opponents, he uses his speed to get to his spots, and grab pucks around the net. IMO he's going to be a consistent 20-30 goal scorer.

There are definitely some people out there who will just look at his goal totals and size, and probably think that. But the reality is, he'd be much more effective if he could actually mix in a little more perimeter puck control game, east-west creativity...to go with his broken play garbage man sort of skillset.

He plays his worst hockey when he tries to play that way, or gets forced out there by heavy/rigid defensive structures. He's a guy who plays his best hockey when the puck is on his stick as little as possible. The lack of that other element, and lack of size+speed is what i think holds him back to more of a guy who bounces around between 10-25G in any given year (depending on puck luck and what sort of minutes he gets), and probably caps off as more of a 30-40pt guy accordingly.