The Vancouver Canucks have signed forward Nils Höglander to a three-year contract extension with an annual average value of $3 million. General manager Patrik Allvin announced the deal late Sunday afternoon.
General Manager Patrik Allvin announces that the #Canucks have agreed to terms with forward Nils Höglander on a three-year contract extension with a $3 million AAV.
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) October 6, 2024
“We were all impressed with the way Nils came into training camp and approached the preseason,” said Allvin. “His work ethic, tenacity, and motor have helped him establish himself as an NHL player and we feel with our continued support and development he has a lot more room to grow both on and off the ice.”
Höglander is undoubtedly this management group’s greatest developmental success story to this point. Höglander bounced up and down — and out of — the Canucks’ lineup under both Travis Green and Bruce Boudreau, and appeared to be plateauing a bit.
Upon the hiring of Rick Tocchet and with the help of the Canucks’ revamped support staff down in AHL Abbotsford, Höglander put up 32 points in 45 AHL games during the 2022-23 season. He spent the entirety of last season in the NHL, where he scored 24 goals and added 12 assists through 80 games played.
With Dakota Joshua still recovering from offseason surgery to treat testicular cancer, Höglander ran with the opportunity he got during the preseason to play alongside Conor Garland and Aatu Räty and projects to open the season on the team’s third line.
The Rutherford-Allvin regime signed Höglander to a two year contract with a $1.1 million AAV in July 2023, which meant he was able to sign an extension on July 1st, 2024. It also means that Höglander’s cap hit will remain $1.1 million for the 2024-25 campaign. This contract will take Höglander right up to free agency when it expires in 2028, when Höglander will be 27 years old.
Höglander was originally selected by Vancouver in the second round, 40th overall in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. He and Arturs Silovs, who the Canucks selected in the sixth round of that draft, are the only two players who are still property of the Canucks from that draft.
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