What’s Going On With Canucks Forward Nils Höglander?

Nils Höglander. A player that Vancouver Canucks fans can never nail down a proper expectation for season-by-season. 

The scrappy forward went from an excellent 27-point shortened rookie season to being sent down to the Abbotsford Canucks only a couple of seasons after. When he made his return to the NHL in 2023–24, he posted his career-best season with 24 even-strength goals and 12 assists. 

The following season, he went 34 games without scoring. 

Now, 13 games into his sixth career season, after sitting out the first two months due to an ankle injury, Höglander has yet to score his first point of the year. Based on numbers alone, many would expect the forward to be one of those players currently on the hot seat. However, Höglander may actually be one of the few primed for a minor breakout throughout the second-half of the 2025–26 season. 

Expectations for Höglander were pretty high heading into this season. With a chaotic 2024–25 season behind the team, 2025–26 was viewed as a fresh start for a team that seemed to really need it. The forward performed well within the final stretch of last year, putting up four points in the final six games after returning from injury. Prior to sustaining an injury on March 22, he’d put up a goal and seven assists in 10 games. Offensively, Höglander showed promise at the end of last season, leading many to believe he could reprise that this year. 

Pre-season is when Höglander’s season complicated itself. The forward sustained an ankle injury before Vancouver’s regular season even began, exiting the Canucks’ pre-season match against the Calgary Flames in Abbotsford on September 24. Within a week, he was ruled out until early December. 

Höglander didn’t make his season debut until December 8 against the Detroit Red Wings. From there, it didn’t take long for him to end up healthy-scratched, missing a total of four games throughout December before making his return to the lineup on January 2. 

Historically speaking, it hasn’t taken Höglander very long to find the scoresheet at the start of his season. In four of the previous five seasons, the forward has registered at least one point in his first game of the year, with 2022–23 being the only season that has seen him wait to get his first point. Prior to this year, the longest Höglander had to wait to get his first point of the season was three games. 

Here’s the thing with Höglander — in most cases, he’s been able to put up points early on in his season, only to either play his way out of solid minutes or be taken out of the lineup due to defensive woes. Throughout the seasons, consistency on all sides of the ice has made itself a key talking point when it comes to his play, even if the offence has been there. This season, the offence hasn’t quite made itself present; but as a whole, Höglander has been one of the Canucks’ most consistent energy players throughout a dismal start to January.

Since returning to the lineup on January 2, Höglander has played the way many expected him to at the start of the season. He’s currently averaging 11:47 minutes played per game which is a career-low, but may actually be a better decision in the long run. Despite missing more than half of the season, Höglander currently ranks third on the Canucks in 5-on-5 CF% with 52.94%. His xGF% is a little lower, hovering at 47.97%, but still ranks higher than that of Kiefer Sherwood, Conor Garland, and Brock Boeser. In his 13 games this season, he has generated 69 scoring chances-for, 28 of which have been high-danger. 

It’s hard to compare Höglander’s in-depth statistics to that of his teammates, given that most of them have played many more minutes compared to him. If you take a look at his own stats compared to previous seasons, however, it’s clear that the forward is playing with a better projection than how he did in the seasons that saw him falter. Höglander’s current CF% of 52.94% ranks third throughout his whole career, behind only the 2021–22 (53.32%) and 2023–24 (53.22%) seasons. The next highest CF% in his career came in 2020–21, during which he registered 50.43%. 

The underlying numbers may fall slightly in Höglander’s favour, but in solely utilizing the eye-test, the forward has still managed to stand out. In watching Vancouver’s past seven games, Höglander has been one of few players to find their skating legs right at puck drop. He has consistently been one of the most dangerous forwards on the ice despite not quite finding the back of the net, driving deep into the opposition’s zone and utilizing his creativity to generate quality chances. 

For Höglander, the 2025–26 season evidently hasn’t gone as planned. Even so, he’s been able to put up a respectable effort since the start of the calendar year. While his name has been thrown into trade rumours as of late (whose hasn’t at this point), the forward has shown up for the Canucks and is bound to start finding the scoresheet sooner rather than later. 

Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.

Latest From THN’s Vancouver Canucks Site: 

Jim Rutherford Unsure Of Long-Term Future With The Canucks

Canucks Alumni Revealed For 2026 Shorsey Classic

The First Half Of The 2025–26 AHL Season Did Not Go As Planned For The Abbotsford Canucks

For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.