Vancouver Canucks Hit with Tough Reality as Young Forward Is Exposed in Harsh Public Callout
Photo credit: Sportsnet
The Vancouver Canucks have given out their fair share of bad contract in recent years, but one Swedish forward may have the worst on the team entering the 2025-26 season.
With the month of July more than halfway over and the offseason dragging on, it's always interesting to take a look at the state of the Vancouver Canucks as a whole and see who could become trade candidates, who has a bad contract, good contract, etc.
The 2024-25 season was a difficult one for the team overallmissing out on the Stanley Cup Playoffs and as a result, a number of players on the roster took a bit of a step back in terms of their production, including one Swedish forward who is hoping to bounce back this fall.
Vancouver Canucks forward may have one of the worst contracts on the team
In a recent article on The Hockey Writers, Matthew Zator took a look at three of the worst contracts the Vancouver Canucks have on the books and coming in at number two on his list is someone that goes a bit under the radar, but had a solid year two seasons ago - Nils Hoglander.
"Last season, he dropped off a cliff offensively and scored only eight goals while being a healthy scratch at times. He fell into head coach Rick Tocchet's doghouse and seemingly never got out of it, similar to the Bruce Boudreau era when he had his last bad campaign. But back then, he wasn't costing the Canucks $3 million AAV. Now, he's getting paid like a 20-goal scorer, and they need him to get back to that level if they hope to bounce back from their mediocre showing last season." Zator said.
A couple of days before the start of the 2024-25 season, the Vancouver Canucks decided to lock up Nils Hoglander to a three-year, $9 million contract ($3 million AAV) after he registered 24 goals and 36 points in 80 games the season prior.
It was a big jump in pay for the 24-year-old winger, going from $1.1 million to $3 million and with that comes a lot of expectation and pressure, but unfortunately like many players on the team last season, they regressed a bit offensively.
Hoglander went on to finish the 2024-25 campaign with just eight goals and 25 points in 72 games and was even made a healthy scratch on a few occasions by former Head Coach Rick Tocchet.
With the 2024-25 season in the rearview mirror for Hoglander and the rest of the Vancouver Canucks, he's already looking to better himself so he's ready for training camp in September and last month, was already back on the ice in his home nation of Sweden.
The Bockstrack, Sweden native is a hard worker and he's determined to prove to the Vancouver Canucks that they made the right decision to give him $3 million annually, with fans hoping that he'll bounce back next season and hopefully have another 20-goal campaign.
Source: Matthew Zator/The Hockey Writers
Canucks' 3 Worst Contracts for 2025-26
Canucks' 3 Worst Contracts for 2025-26
| POLL | ||
JUILLET 19 | 2636 ANSWERS Vancouver Canucks Hit with Tough Reality as Young Forward Is Exposed in Harsh Public Callout Do you think Nils Hoglander will bounce back during the 2025-26 season? | ||
| Yes | 2071 | 78.6 % |
| No | 565 | 21.4 % |
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