Canucks' Nils Hoglander, Tucker Poolman could be out for season

Vancouver Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau spoke to reporters Tuesday, saying that he believes forward Nils Hoglander and defenseman Tucker Poolman could be done for the 2021-22 season with their respective injuries.

Hoglander, 21, last played on March 15 against the New Jersey Devils. He was listed as day-to-day with a groin injury two days later, and his status was downgraded to week-to-week on March 30. 

Poolman, a first-year Canuck, returned to the lineup on April 3 after missing over two months but played just 4:25 in that game. He’s out with an upper-body injury.

While the Canucks, who now sit eight points out of the second Wild Card spot, had very little hope of making the playoffs, these compounding injuries worsen their circumstances. While Hoglander has been in and out of the lineup, occasionally scratched, he still has more points this season than any current member of Vancouver’s bottom-six (10 goals, 18 points in 60 games). Not having him as an option for some depth goal-scoring takes away from a position of need.

Many initially balked at Poolman's $2.5M cap hit (and rightfully so), but he put together by far the best defensive performance of his career so far prior to going down with an injury. He had just three points in 40 games, but he has never carried much of any offensive upside anyway.