Vancouver Canucks prospect Nils Hoglander had 2 assists in his first game of SHL season

The Swedish Hockey League regular season kicked off on Saturday and Nils Höglander wasted no time getting on the scoresheet.

Höglander had two assists in the season opener as his team Rögle BK won 6-4 against Linköping. This game had the potential to be a matchup between two Canucks prospects as Arvid Costmar is a member of Linköping. However, Costmar was not in the lineup for Linköping today. Costmar was selected by the Canucks in the seventh round of the 2019 NHL entry draft.

Just as Vasili Podkolzin assisted on his team’s first goal of the regular season, Höglander did the same as he flipped the puck to the defenceman at the point who fired it on net before being tipped in front to give Rögle a 1-0 lead.

Höglander skated on the fourth line during Saturday’s game. His opposite winger would end up taking a match penalty on an interference hit that had him ejected in the first period. That meant that Höglander bounced around lines, getting time with some of the top talents on Rögle while also having some regular shifts with a rotating winger on the fourth line.

He would go on to finish the game with 11:19 of ice time. The Rögle coaching staff used him in a lot of 4-on-4 play and he saw time with the first powerplay unit as well. On the powerplay was where Höglander found his second assist of the game when he worked the puck from behind the net into the danger zone.

Overall, it was a good start to the season for Höglander as he recorded two points and was used in multiple offensive situations. His coaching staff is aware of his offensive prowess and uses it to maximize goals in situations away from 5-on-5.

Rögle is back in action on Thursday as they receive a tidy break before jumping into the second game of the season.

Höglander is on a two-month loan with his SHL team and will have a decision to make during their winter break that begins on December 13th. That is the soonest on when we can hear if Höglander will make the trip to North America. For now, we will follow his play in the SHL and continue to watch him stack up points.