Before the roster freeze went into effect Monday night, the Vancouver Canucks completed a transaction that might raise some eyebrows. Nils Hoglander was loaned to the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks.
Hoglander, 22, looked like he was going to be a star during his rookie year when he scored 13 goals and 27 points in 56 games. Whether it was the odd division setup, the team around him or just some extra confidence, that level of play has been hard to come by ever since.
Last season, Hoglander had just 18 points in 60 games, and this year he has nine through his first 25. He’s been a healthy scratch several times and is averaging just 12 minutes a game.
The roster freeze does not prevent the Canucks from bringing Hoglander back up, but the move suggests he won’t be in the lineup for the Canucks when they play a back-to-back starting Thursday.
If he does play for Abbotsford, it would be the first minor league action of Hoglander’s career. The young forward stepped right from the SHL to the NHL and never looked back. Perhaps some development time to reset his game is all that’s needed to get him back on track.
The team also completed a goaltending swap, returning Artus Silovs to the AHL while recalling Collin Delia under emergency conditions.
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