The Vancouver Canucks signed restricted free-agent forward Nils Hoglander to a two-year contract with an average annual value of $1.1 million, the team announced Sunday.
Hoglander showed plenty of promise during his rookie campaign in 2020-21, accruing 13 goals and 14 assists in 56 games as a 20-year-old. He's been trending in the wrong direction, though, producing the same numbers in 85 contests since.
The Canucks selected the 5-foot-9 winger out of Sweden with the 40th overall pick in 2019.
Hoglander is without a defined role entering the 2023-24 campaign due to the Canucks' ample depth on the wings. Brock Boeser, Andrei Kuzmenko, Conor Garland, Ilya Mikheyev, and Anthony Beauvillier are all guaranteed of spots due to their sizeable cap hits. Hoglander will have to compete for a job out of the gate with the likes of Vasily Podkolzin, Vitali Kravtsov, Dakota Joshua, and others.
If Hoglander begins the year in the AHL, the 22-year-old will look to build off a strong stint with the Abbotsford Canucks where he tallied 14 goals and 18 assists in 45 contests a year ago.
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