With the Calgary Flames heading into the All-Star break losing four of their last five games and closer to the bottom of the standings than the playoffs, the fire sale could be starting sooner rather than later. One name that has already been mentioned as a potential trade return for the Flames is Vancouver Canucks forward Nils Höglander.
Why may the Flames be interested in Höglander and would he make a good trade target for the team if they were to ship Chris Tanev back to Vancouver? Let’s take a deeper look.
Who is Nils Höglander?
Hoglander was picked by the Canucks in the second round of the 2019 draft, 40th overall. He recently turned 23 in December and is a left shot, left wing and stands at a small 5’9″ and 185 pounds.
Here’s a quick excerpt from his scouting report back in 2020, his D+1 year.
Höglander is one of the highest skilled players from the 2019 draft and it’s easy to see how his offensive game might translate to the NHL. Exceptional hands give Höglander the ability to hold the puck and make creative plays in high traffic areas under heavy duress with limited time and space.
Harman Dayal on Nils Höglander in 2020
Here’s how his numbers look across the past few seasons after being drafted.
| Season | Team | League | Games played | Goals | Assists | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019–20 | Rogle BK Angelholm | SweHL | 41 | 9 | 7 | 16 |
| 2020–21 | Rogle BK Angelholm | SweHL | 23 | 5 | 9 | 14 |
| Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 56 | 13 | 14 | 27 | |
| 2021–22 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 60 | 10 | 8 | 18 |
| 2022–23 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 25 | 3 | 6 | 9 |
| Abbotsford Canucks | AHL | 45 | 14 | 18 | 32 | |
| 2023–24 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 47 | 14 | 6 | 20 |
After being drafted, Höglander spent two years in the SHL, posting 30 points across 64 games before making the jump straight to the NHL during the 2020–21 season at the age of 20. His first NHL season was a big success, posting 27 points in 56 games. He did however experience some growing pains across the next two years and found himself spending some time in the AHL last year in 2022–23.
After finishing fifth on the Abbotsford Canucks in points per game last year, he’s made the full-time jump to the NHL this year and is in the midst of the best season of his young career.
Höglander’s production this season
As mentioned above, Höglander has made the full-time jump to the NHL this year on the league-best Canucks and is currently playing the best hockey of his career. He currently sits with 14 goals and 20 points in 47 games while averaging right around 13 minutes a game.
Here’s where he ranks among Canucks forwards in some key metrics courtesy of NaturalStatTrick.com.
| Stat | Nils Höglander | Rank among Canucks Forwards |
|---|---|---|
| Goals | 14 | 4th |
| 5v5 Goals | 14 | 1st |
| Goals/60 | 1.67 | 1st |
| Points/60 | 2.38 | 5th |
| xGF% | 50.4 | 8th |
So far this season Höglander has been incredibly efficient at 5v5, in fact, he’s the Canucks best even strength goal scorer so far. That’s no small feat considering the Canucks have three forwards with over 50 points and over 20 goals. The only Canuck with as many even strength goals as Höglander is Brock Boeser.
He’s doing it in incredibly limited minutes too and leads the Canucks in goals per 60 at even strength. He’s currently skating on the Canucks fourth line and is averaging only 10:54 minutes a game at even strength, the 12th most among Canucks forwards. As well so far this season he’s played just nine minutes on the power play, so every single one of his goals has come at even strength.
Among all forwards league-wide with at least 250 minutes at 5v5 this season, Höglander ranks third for goals per 60 behind only Auston Matthews and Zach Hyman. His 14 even strength goals also rank 21st in the NHL among forwards. For context, Blake Coleman currently leads the Flames in even strength goals with 12.
He’s not just getting it done offensively either. So far this season Höglander has had some pretty impressive impacts at both ends of the ice. Take a look courtesy of HockeyViz.com.
Given the above, it’s easy to see why the Flames have an interest in Höglander. A 23-year-old highly skilled forward who has been one of the league’s better 5v5 skaters this year is pretty much exactly the type of player this team is missing.
Höglander is a perfect fit
Given the reports we’ve heard recently that the Flames are likely to target NHL-ready players instead of only picks and prospects in any returns for their pending unrestricted free agents, Höglander seems like a perfect fit. After the homerun Yegor Sharangovich deal, Höglander would be another strong bet to make an immediate impact on the Flames roster if they were able to acquire him.
Another positive that makes Höglander an ideal trade target in any deal with Vancouver is his contract status. Höglander currently has an incredibly affordable $1.1 million AAV and on top of that is still under contract for one more season. After his current deal expires at the end of the 2024–25 season, he’d then become a restricted free agent and remain under team control.
Having a young asset like Höglander in the organization and under team control for the considerable future would be huge for a team that is likely to lose quite a few core players over the next couple of months. If the Flames are able to turn a veteran like Tanev into a young, team-controlled asset like Höglander it would be a massive win on all fronts.
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