Nils Hoglander turning heads: Rick Tocchet praises the youngster
Photo credit: USA TODAY Sports
Swedish forward Nils Hoglander was turning heads at the Canucks' training camp in Penticton.
The Vancouver Canucks wrapped up their Penticton portion of training on Sunday afternoon with a Blue vs White scrimmage. Training camp so far has given some of the new players an opportunity to show what they can bring to the lineup, but for one familiar face, it appears he stood out and impressed quite a few people.
While on Canucks Conversation, Harman Dayal praised Swedish forward Nils Hoglander for how he looked on the ice during camp in Penticton.
"I will say this. Nils Hoglander got some love, big love from Rick Tocchet today." Dayal said.
He added, "He's just designed to crush training camp because he's fast, he's tenacious, he's skilled, he's good along the walls. He was really impressive on Day 2 especially. He had a lot of those two-on-two drills where he was paired with Conor Garland and those two guys down low in the offensive zone, both offensively and defensively they were just swarming the puck, they were making plays."
He added, "He's just designed to crush training camp because he's fast, he's tenacious, he's skilled, he's good along the walls. He was really impressive on Day 2 especially. He had a lot of those two-on-two drills where he was paired with Conor Garland and those two guys down low in the offensive zone, both offensively and defensively they were just swarming the puck, they were making plays."
2023-24 was a breakout year for Nils Hoglander with the Vancouver Canucks. His first three years in the National Hockey League, he was in a bit of an adjustment period, trying to learn the North American game and all his hard work finally paid off for him last year.
The Bocktrask, Sweden appeared in 80 games for Vancouver last season where he registered 36 points (24 goals, 12 assists), 51 penalty minutes and was a plus-23. While he had a strong regular season, his production dropped off in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, putting up just two points in 11 games.
Hoglander is set to become a restricted free agent at the end of the 2024-25 season and if he's able to replicate the success he had last year, he could be looking at a big bump in pay when compared to the $1.1 million he's earning currently.
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 24 | 103 ANSWERS Nils Hoglander turning heads: Rick Tocchet praises the youngster Will Nils Hoglander score 20 or more goals again this season? | ||
| Yes | 96 | 93.2 % |
| No | 7 | 6.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
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