A Comprehensive Breakdown Of Canucks Forward Nils Höglander’s 2024–25 Season
Feb 26, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Vancouver Canucks left wing Nils Hoglander (21) looks to pass against Los Angeles Kings defenseman Jordan Spence (21) during the first period at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jason Parkhurst-Imagn ImagesLast season, Vancouver Canucks forward Nils Höglander had a career season. He scored 24 goals, all on even-strength, put up a career-high 36 points, and finished the year +23 in 80 games played. This rebound effort came after he was sent down to the Abbotsford Canucks the year prior in order to work on making his game rounder. Despite taking a hit offensively this season, Höglander’s underlying stats show that he is still trending in a similar direction as last season.
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The most notable difference in Höglander’s play from last season and this season is the amount of goals he has scored. He had 19 goals this time last year, and currently only has five. From October 2023 to January 2024, Höglander played in 37 games, registering 403:04 minutes played. He placed 12th on the team in corsi-for (367) and shots-for (185), also coming in 10th in goals-for (23) and 13th in scoring chances-for (170).
Höglander’s goal-scoring — or lack thereof — this season has been permeated by a 34-game scoring drought that lasted from the end of October 2024 to mid-January 2025. During this period, he stayed relatively towards the middle of the pack in advanced stats. He played 370:37 minutes over this 35-game span, putting him 14th on the team. He placed 15th on the team in corsi-for (316) and shots-for (145), and 14th in goals-for (14) and scoring chances-for (132) of all players who played more than 100 minutes during this span of time. He had the lowest stats of forwards who played more than 300 minutes in these categories.
Since this dry spell, Höglander has noticeably picked up the pace. From January 14 until now, the forward is 11th in shots-for on the team with 83, beating out Kiefer Sherwood and Teddy Blueger during this span. He is tied for third on the team in goals-for with eight, and is sixth in xGF with 8.47. Currently, he leads all Canucks in GF% with a surprising 66.67% — which puts him higher than players like William Nylander, Nathan MacKinnon, and Auston Matthews throughout this stretch. While his minutes have been more sheltered compared to the rest of the team, as he has played 181:21 since January 14, it’s still interesting to note how his expected goals-for related stats have had such an uptick since his mid-season slump.
In January to March of 2024, Höglander played nearly 50 minutes more than he has this season, racking up 229:01 minutes in 20 games played. Despite being 11th on the team in shots-for with 119, his shots-for percentage was first on the team with 58.62%. Whereas he currently leads the team in GF%, last season, Höglander was ninth on the Canucks in the same stat with 52.00%. This disparity is likely due to the general decline in offense produced by the team as a whole in 2024–25, as last season, Höglander was seventh in goals-for with 13. The fact that Quinn Hughes leads the team in goals-for with 11 right now shows the drop-off in the team’s overall goal scoring — last season, a rate of 11 goals-for would tie Hughes for 10th on Vancouver.
In the past month, Höglander has seen his corsi-related stats even out a little more compared to earlier in the season. Of players who have played more than 50 minutes, Höglander is eight in corsi-for (95), putting him above Sherwood, Conor Garland, and Pius Suter. He is second in corsi-for percentage with 53.98%, with only Filip Chytil having a higher total than him. Regarding goals-for, he is seventh in GF% (40.00%), eighth in xGF (4.15), and first in xGF% (60.05%).
From February to March 2024, Vancouver played six more games than they have this season. As a result, Höglander played nearly double the amount of minutes than what he has registered during this month this year. In 165:21 minutes, Höglander put up a sixth-place corsi-for (196) on the team, a team-high 60.12 CF%, a seventh-place GF% (50.00%), a 10th-place xGF (6.95), and a sixth-place xGF% (57.53%). While his February 2024 numbers mostly surpass his February 2025 numbers, it’s important to note how those numbers were collected with nearly double the sample size.
While Höglander’s offensive numbers have dipped this season compared to the last, these stats signal the team’s dip in offense rather than Höglander’s impact on it. For reference, from October 2023 to January 2024, the team-high goals-for was registered by Filip Hronek, who had 55 in 38 games played. Hughes came after him with 34 in the same span of time. However, from October 2024 to January 2025, the highest goals-for on the team came from Hughes, who had 39. In general, the team’s offense has seen a pretty steep drop from their recent Pacific Division-winning regular season. The fact that Höglander’s positioning in team statistics has remained relatively consistent shows that, if anything, his lack of offense stems from the team’s lack of it as a whole.
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