Analyzing Nils Höglander’s sophomore season so far

Nils Höglander was one of the most consistent Vancouver Canucks last season. The rookie put his skill and energy on display and he scored 13 goals and 14 assists for 27 points in 56 games. The Canucks 2019 second-round pick looked to build on his respectable rookie year.

This year, it is fair to say Höglander is a victim of the sophomore slump. He has gone through a lot of spells without putting up points and he only has two points in his last 20 games and only two goals in his last 31. Höglander has scored nine goals and eight assists for 17 points in 59 games this season. On an 82-game pace that is 12 goals and 11 assists for 23 points.

Sophomore slumps are common among young NHL players and Höglander is no exception. The offence isn’t the only thing that has been lacking, it’s the defensive game too.

There are times when he looks lost defensively and is easily letting players get past him. The 21-year-old hasn’t done as well on the battles and last season. According to NaturalStatTrick, he is the worst among forwards for shots against per 60 with 32.24. He is second highest among Canucks forwards in goals against per 60 behind J.T. Miller with 2.59.

At around 4:08 below, Höglander has a hard time battling with Frank Vatrano and Maxim Mamin and Mamin finds his way in front of the net and scores.

Offensively, it’s been inconsistent with Höglander. He has shown flashes of offence, particularly at the beginning of the season but as mentioned above, there have been some dry spells too.

Höglander has not been getting a lot of ice time under Bruce Boudreau. Sunday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Höglander had a career-low ice time of 7:38. For the past few weeks, Boudreau has been giving the young Swede less ice time and has been critical of his all-round game.

“He’s got some scoring potential, but he needs to learn how to play the game,” said Boudreau back in January. “He has skill and he might score 40 someday, but if you’re going to hover around the 20-goal mark you better learn to play at both ends of the ice.”

So it’s been an up and down second year for Höglander. There have been moments where he was working hard winning battles in the offensive zone and creating scoring chances or scoring on his own. (Second on the Canucks in Corsi for per 60 behind Tanner Pearson.) But there have been defensive mistakes and times where he has looked invisible on the ice.

You could argue that Höglander deserves more ice time and let’s face it, he and Vasily Podkolzin should get looks on the power play and be out there in the final minutes when the Canucks are down one goal. However, Boudreau wants him to improve his game in all areas of the ice and it looks like the lack of ice time might be a teaching point to get him to improve. Then, more ice time will come.

There were times when Höglander doesn’t look confident out there but he knows he can’t just sulk about it.

“It was probably one of the tougher times I’ve had as a hockey player, just mentally,” said Höglander on his slump in an interview with Harman Dayal of The Athletic. (Paywalled.) “It made me a better player in the end. Going through something like that in an early stage of your career, it just pushes you to be a better player.”

Höglander has the potential to be a really good middle-six player for the Canucks and it’s been an inconsistent year for him and there are still plenty of things to work on.