In his latest written version of 32 Thoughts, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman mentioned that the Pittsburgh Penguins have ‘real interest’ in Vancouver Canucks forward Nils Höglander.

It was a short and sweet thought, but here is Friedman’s thoughts from the article:

18. I think Pittsburgh has real interest in Nils Hoglander. Meanwhile, the Penguins have shoppers for Drew O’Connor.

This isn’t the first time we’re hearing of the Penguins’ interest in the Canucks forward, as NHL Network’s Kevin Weekes reported earlier that the Penguins, Washington Capitals and Columbus Blue Jackets have explored the trade possibility of Höglander.

Höglander, 23, has struggled this season. Following up a 24-goal, 12-assist, 36-point campaign in 2023-24, the Swedish forward hasn’t quite found his footing this season, recording just two goals and three assists for five points in 24 games. The difference is his deployment has been a complete 180 from what it was last season.

Before joining Elias Pettersson’s line in the top six, he was buried on the fourth line, yet still scored 17 goals in that role. Winger contributions this offseason, like Jake DeBrusk, Danton Heinen and Kiefer Sherwood, have pushed him back into a bottom-six role. But he still hasn’t produced.

The Penguins have been disappointing this season, currently sitting with an 11-12-4 record, good for 20th in the NHL and sixth in the Metropolitan division. They have the oldest roster in terms of average age at 30.9, headlined by Sidney Crosby (37), Evgeni Malkin (38), Kris Letang (37) and Erik Karlsson (34).

Pittsburgh lacks young talent, with just Cody Glass (25) and Philip Tomasino (23) as the only two forwards under the age of 26 in their forward group. So their interest in a young, goal-scoring winger under contract for three years at a cost-controlled $3 million per season is the type of player Penguins General Manager Kyle Dubas is searching for to turn his team around.

Höglander has recently earned an elevated role in the lineup, slated on the third line with Sherwood and Teddy Blueger. As a result, he has seen double digits in ice time over his previous two games, after four straight games seeing under 9:15. The Canucks and Höglander will return to Rogers Arena on Friday when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets.