The NHL’s Department of Player Safety has fined Vancouver Canucks’ forward Nils Hoglander $2,864.58 for high-sticking Detroit Red Wings’ defenseman Jake Walman during their game on Thursday. The amount of money is the maximum allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Hoglander did not receive a penalty on the play. The Canucks won the game 4-1, improving their league-best record to 37-12-6 with 80 points. Vancouver is 7-1-2 in their last 10 games have won three straight games.
Hoglander has had a breakout 2023-24 campaign, scoring a career-high 17 goals in 53 games, along with seven assists for 24 points, providing reliable depth in a bottom-six role, averaging only 11:09 of ice time. Now in his fourth season, all with the Canucks, the 23-year-old has 43 goals and 35 assists for 78 points through 194 career NHL games.
He signed a two-year, $2.2 million extension last summer with the Canucks through the 2024-25 season.
Taken in the second round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, Hoglander found success in his native Sweden, playing three seasons with Rogle BK of the Swedish Elite League and honing his craft at the professional level. During the COVID-19 shortened 2020-21 regular season, Hoglander’s rookie NHL campaign, he scored 13 goals and 14 assists for 27 points through 56 games.
He won a bronze medal with Sweden at the 2020 World Junior Championship in Czech Republic, scoring five goals and six assists for 11 points in seven games.
The Canucks play their next game at home on Saturday when they face the Winnipeg Jets. Vancouver then travels to the State of Hockey and face the Minnesota Wild on Monday, followed by a flight to Denver to face the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday.
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