Höglander was fined for his actions against the Sharks on Monday.
The NHL has fined Nils Höglander $2,864.58 for slew-footing San Jose Sharks forward Kevin Labanc. The incident occurred at the 18:31 mark of the second period, resulting in a match penalty for intent to injure. While Lebanc did not play the rest of the second period, he did return for the third, avoiding potential injury.
As for Höglander, he was lucky to escape without a suspension, as the play could have resulted in a serious injury. While battling with Lebanc in front of Vancouver's bench, he slew-footed the Sharks forward to the ice. Originally called a minor penalty on the ice, the penalty was changed after a video review.
Höglander spoke to the media Tuesday morning and had this to say:
“I didn’t do it on purpose. Those things happen out there. I think that was a bad play from my side so I take that fine. I’m happy I didn’t get suspended from it. I take that fine and hopefully I don’t do that again. It goes so fast out there and you just try to battle. My leg came behind his leg or whatever. I think we did a pretty good job there on the PK. Five minute PK is not fun to play, but we did quite good.”
The fine was the maximum allowed under the CBA and the first time Höglander has faced supplemental discipline during his NHL career. Overall, this was the seventh fine handed out by the NHL this season and the first given out to a Canuck player since Feb. 27, 2023, when Christian Wolanin was fined $2,027.03 for a slash against Ty Dellandrea.
Vancouver next hits the ice on Wednesday versus the high-flying Colorado Avalanche. The game will be a great test for the Canucks as Colorado currently sits second in the Central Division with 22 points in their first 17 games. Game time is set for 7:00 pm PT for this highly anticipated matchup.