While Nils Hoglander had a career year with the Vancouver Canucks during the 2023-24 season, he has yet to duplicate that performance. Now a member of the Nashville Predators, the 25-year-old winger is off to a hot start and is showing signs of the player we saw three years ago.
In the aforementioned 2023-24 season, Hoglander set career highs in both goals and points. He lit the lamp 24 times for the Canucks, which remains the only time he’s surpassed the 20-goal threshold in his NHL career. In total, he had 36 points that season as well, another number he hasn’t even come close to reaching a second time.
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Hoglander’s offensive production fell off a cliff during the 2024-25 season, but he wasn’t the only one in Vancouver to do so. The team as a whole underperformed to the point where management decided to fire then head coach Rick Tocchet at the end of the season. Injuries then hampered Hoglander’s only season under new coach Adam Foote and he was traded earlier this summer.
The Predators gave up a 2029 third-round pick that originally belonged to the Colorado Avalanche to bring Hoglander into the mix, and it’s looking like a major bargain so far.
After being kept off the scoresheet in the Predators’ season opener against the Minnesota Wild, Hoglander scored the game-winning goal against the Dallas Stars to help Nashville pick up their first, and to date, only win of the 2026-27 season.
Then, against the Toronto Maple Leafs, it was impossible not to notice Hoglander. Even though the Predators were ultimately defeated after taking a 3-0 lead, the Swedish winger scored twice and helped Nashville pick up a point as the game went to overtime.
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Sometimes it’s the small additions that make a major impact for an organization, and so far, that’s been the case for Nils Hoglander and the Nashville Predators. Now the only question remaining is whether or not he can keep the momentum rolling.
