Contract extension development: 8-year deal for Nils Hoglander?

The Canucks have two notable restricted free agents who will be in need of a new deal in less than a month, Ethan Bear and Nils Hoglander. Bear is coming off a superb first impression and capped it off with a stint at the World Championship, which brought GOLD back to Canada.

Hoglander, on his part, is set to be an intriguing one. The youngster was sent down to Abbotsford for the first time in his career after he'd played two full seasons in the NHL. The goal in sending him down was that he'd gain confidence and develop his two-way game, which he most certainly did.

The belief is that Hoglander was good enough down there to come back as a full-time NHLer, and with that in mind, a journalist made quite the suggestion regarding his upcoming deal. For a player like Hoglander, the ongoing thought is that he's looking at a short-term bridge deal and an opportunity to prove his worth.

However, the journalist proposed a different strategy where the team would try and lock him up to a longer-term deal to try and save money in the long run. Similar to what the Hurricanes did when they locked up Jesperi Kotkaniemie for eight years with an AAV of a little $4M, he believes the Canucks should consider taking a leap of faith and going down this road.


While it may seem like a stretch, Hoglander had the potential to turn into a legitimate top6 two-way winger; that being said, locking him up for eight years in the mid-3s could end up being a steal. It is, however, a big risk, one that the Canucks can't take right now. Hoglander has some RFA years still ahead of him, and they should be aiming at a two-year deal and then try and lock him up long-term once he's proven he can take care of things on the team's top two lines.

SOURCE:Vancouver is Awesome