[Signing] Canucks re-sign Nils Hoglander to 2 year $1.1M

[DownUndaCanuck]

Hoglander's career could go so many ways but there's a lot of promise here. I think management have to help him out though and move a winger and force him into the NHL, we simply cannot afford to lose him on waivers. I'd rather sit him in the press box than have that happen. Wouldn't be surprised if Podz plays most of next year in Abby but it's Hoglander's time to shine.

 

I know our top line is pretty set but Mikheyev is coming off a big injury and Tocchet loves a forechecker on each line - imagine if Hoglander plays some top line minutes with his mate Petey, what could happen...

 

More realistically next year I think he'll rotate between the 3rd and 4th lines, probably chip in 10-15 goals but be buzzing all over the ice. I think he's going to be a real fan favourite but probably get benched a fair bit for sloppy defensive positioning, and then the following year I think he'll drop 20 goals out of nowhere and earn a big fat contract.

[kloubek]

15 hours ago, Viper007 said:

Podz can't be claimed yet.

I think I read Podz is exempt all this year? 

Hogs, not so much. We're going to have to play him in the lineup. Which is ok, since despite his struggles I maintain high hopes for this kid and still believe he will become an NHL regular. I may have been overly enthusiastic to believe he was capable of a top 6 role, but he does have some solid skills and his effort level is always very high. Contrary to the opinion of many, I don't actually think he's too small to be an impact player. Although apparently only 5'9, 185lbs isn't exactly small for that frame. He may not have the mass to make many crushing hits, but he has enough strength to hold his own. 

I'm really really hoping for this guy that he manages to show what he is capable of this season. I have a feeling that in two years, he's going to be asking for notably more.

[BarnBurner]

35 minutes ago, kloubek said:

I think I read Podz is exempt all this year? 

Hogs, not so much. We're going to have to play him in the lineup. Which is ok, since despite his struggles I maintain high hopes for this kid and still believe he will become an NHL regular. I may have been overly enthusiastic to believe he was capable of a top 6 role, but he does have some solid skills and his effort level is always very high. Contrary to the opinion of many, I don't actually think he's too small to be an impact player. Although apparently only 5'9, 185lbs isn't exactly small for that frame. He may not have the mass to make many crushing hits, but he has enough strength to hold his own. 

I'm really really hoping for this guy that he manages to show what he is capable of this season. I have a feeling that in two years, he's going to be asking for notably more.

He's a similar build to Smyl in his playing days. 5'10 - 190 lbs. Steamer seemed to do alright. It's all in the mindset, determination. Let's hope this kid has it too.

 

I didn't see any of the games, but based on people here who were watching, he was Abby's best player, and some were saying "too good for the AHL", or something to that affect.

[wai_lai416]

personally i would have just signed both hoglander and zadina both to a 1 year deal any let them battle it out.. worse case scenario you waive one of them and it gets claimed no harms done. i honestly dont think hoglander makes the team based on he's good enough more so he's not waiver exempt and they dont want to lose him for nothing. hoglander have slightly better offensive stats not by much.. but zadina have better size and he was a great PK back in his junior days. i honestly don't see a future for hoglanders with the canucks.. he's not good enough right now to stick in the top 6.. and he's too small his game doesn't translate well in the bottom 6.. and he can't pk.. small tiny players in this league need to be scoring to have a role

[zimmy]

1 hour ago, wai_lai416 said:

personally i would have just signed both hoglander and zadina both to a 1 year deal any let them battle it out.. worse case scenario you waive one of them and it gets claimed no harms done. i honestly dont think hoglander makes the team based on he's good enough more so he's not waiver exempt and they dont want to lose him for nothing. hoglander have slightly better offensive stats not by much.. but zadina have better size and he was a great PK back in his junior days. i honestly don't see a future for hoglanders with the canucks.. he's not good enough right now to stick in the top 6.. and he's too small his game doesn't translate well in the bottom 6.. and he can't pk.. small tiny players in this league need to be scoring to have a role

Get ready for pushback on the “small tiny” characterization. He might be fairly described as short, but he’s neither small or tiny. He’s borderline fireplug thick and quite sturdy.

[wai_lai416]

3 minutes ago, zimmy said:

Get ready for pushback on the “small tiny” characterization. He might be fairly described as short, but he’s neither small or tiny. He’s borderline fireplug thick and quite sturdy.

he's not small for his height but there's weight class for a reason. he needs to be playing in the top 6 and scoring to stick in the NHL. i don't think other teams are worried about a short bulky player in a checking role someone with 15-20 lbs on him will easily brush him aside.

[D-Money]

Hoglander is the same height as Yanni Gourde, and even has 10 lbs on him. If he can develop consistent defensive mindset to go with his offensive skills, he could be a very valuable middle-6 player one day.

 

The ball is in his court. If he doesn’t put it together in 2 years, I suspect he’ll go back to being a star in the SHL instead.

[mll]

19 hours ago, kloubek said:

I think I read Podz is exempt all this year? 

Hogs, not so much. We're going to have to play him in the lineup. Which is ok, since despite his struggles I maintain high hopes for this kid and still believe he will become an NHL regular. I may have been overly enthusiastic to believe he was capable of a top 6 role, but he does have some solid skills and his effort level is always very high. Contrary to the opinion of many, I don't actually think he's too small to be an impact player. Although apparently only 5'9, 185lbs isn't exactly small for that frame. He may not have the mass to make many crushing hits, but he has enough strength to hold his own. 

I'm really really hoping for this guy that he manages to show what he is capable of this season. I have a feeling that in two years, he's going to be asking for notably more.

Podkolzin could become waiver eligible mid-season - once he plays his 42nd game.  

 

Waivers is whichever comes 1st between a number of pro-seasons and NHL games played - it's dependent on signing age.  He will reach the pro-seasons only in a year but could reach the games already this season which would trigger the waivers requirement.   He's exempt for 3 pro-seasons or 160 games.   This will be his 3rd pro-season and he already has 118 games.

 

[kloubek]

3 hours ago, mll said:

Podkolzin could become waiver eligible mid-season - once he plays his 42nd game.  

 

Waivers is whichever comes 1st between a number of pro-seasons and NHL games played - it's dependent on signing age.  He will reach the pro-seasons only in a year but could reach the games already this season which would trigger the waivers requirement.   He's exempt for 3 pro-seasons or 160 games.   This will be his 3rd pro-season and he already has 118 games.

 

Awesome - thanks for that. It appears I was incorrect.

Nothing likely changes in the end though; if he manages to play 42 games this season, chances are good that he's proven his worth to be in the lineup. Unless he's only there due to having no other NHL-capable wingers to play. Considering our glut of wingers, we would have to sustain quite substantial injuries for that to become the case.

 

As I said, I'm betting both Podz and Hogz to be in the lineup on a nightly basis. If they are sent back down by this point in their careers, one has to wonder how much worth they really have to this organization...

[aGENT]

5 minutes ago, kloubek said:

Awesome - thanks for that. It appears I was incorrect.

Nothing likely changes in the end though; if he manages to play 42 games this season, chances are good that he's proven his worth to be in the lineup. Unless he's only there due to having no other NHL-capable wingers to play. Considering our glut of wingers, we would have to sustain quite substantial injuries for that to become the case.

 

As I said, I'm betting both Podz and Hogz to be in the lineup on a nightly basis. If they are sent back down by this point in their careers, one has to wonder how much worth they really have to this organization...

Given that glut of wingers, personally I'd be fine with Podz paying big minutes in Abby, dominating and rounding out his game, with call ups for injuries, and when we move Beau at the TDL.

[kloubek]

Just now, aGENT said:

Given that glut of wingers, personally I'd be fine with Podz paying big minutes in Abby, dominating and rounding out his game, with call ups for injuries, and when we move Beau at the TDL.

Well, that would effectively burn off his last year making him RFA. This might be good from a contract perspective for the Canucks, but I really think it's now or never for Podz; he should have been an impact player already (ideally), and I fear the longer he is held out of the bigs, the more confidence he may *lose* as a result.

 

However, the idea of moving Beau at TDL (especially if we aren't making the playoffs) I am 100% on board with. 

[aGENT]

3 minutes ago, kloubek said:

Well, that would effectively burn off his last year making him RFA. This might be good from a contract perspective for the Canucks, but I really think it's now or never for Podz; he should have been an impact player already (ideally), and I fear the longer he is held out of the bigs, the more confidence he may *lose* as a result.

 

However, the idea of moving Beau at TDL (especially if we aren't making the playoffs) I am 100% on board with. 

Nothing wrong with letting guys fully ripen in the A. Generally it also renews confidence (score more, feel good about your game etc).

 

Nothing wrong with a slow burn on him and having him come up here, later this year, bigger, stronger, more confident and with a more rounded game. The NHL roster is pretty crowded as is anyway. Need to move Garland and Beau at some point.

[AnthonyG]

12 hours ago, aGENT said:

Nothing wrong with letting guys fully ripen in the A. Generally it also renews confidence (score more, feel good about your game etc).

 

Nothing wrong with a slow burn on him and having him come up here, later this year, bigger, stronger, more confident and with a more rounded game. The NHL roster is pretty crowded as is anyway. Need to move Garland and Beau at some point.

100% you look at pretty much every cup winner the last 20 years…. All had guys marinating in the A who came in on cheap deals that helped put teams over the top.

 

[wai_lai416]

our AHL havent marinated a single nhl skater that's not a goalie since god knows when.. unless you are counting zack macewen or dries??.. any player that looked decent in the AHL simply don't translate into success with the canucks and i wouldn't be surprise if it's more the same with the current batch.. the only players with the canucks that managed to find success as a young player pretty much all bypassed the canucks farm system.. until proven otherwise our prospects are better off sticking with their league in europe or NCAA and then making the direct jump to the nhl

[Seannnp]

On 7/12/2023 at 8:23 PM, wai_lai416 said:

personally i would have just signed both hoglander and zadina both to a 1 year deal any let them battle it out.. worse case scenario you waive one of them and it gets claimed no harms done. i honestly dont think hoglander makes the team based on he's good enough more so he's not waiver exempt and they dont want to lose him for nothing. hoglander have slightly better offensive stats not by much.. but zadina have better size and he was a great PK back in his junior days. i honestly don't see a future for hoglanders with the canucks.. he's not good enough right now to stick in the top 6.. and he's too small his game doesn't translate well in the bottom 6.. and he can't pk.. small tiny players in this league need to be scoring to have a role

Do you realize hes probably one of the strongest guys on the team despite his size? He may be short, but he definitely isnt small or tiny

[wai_lai416]

1 hour ago, Seannnp said:

Do you realize hes probably one of the strongest guys on the team despite his size? He may be short, but he definitely isnt small or tiny

Again strong means nothing. When you don’t have the size to back it. It’s simple physics.. if 2 players travelling at the same speed collides.. do you think hoglander will come out on top because he’s “stronger”? No he’s going to get sent flying by someone that have 10-15 lbs on him regardless of how strong or not. Momentum is mass x velocity. You don’t need to be strong to have more momentum. Small ppl can be pesky to play against but that doesn’t make them hard to play against and they tend to struggle against equal skilled players with size advantage 

[aGENT]

1 minute ago, wai_lai416 said:

Again strong means nothing. When you don’t have the size to back it. It’s simple physics.. if 2 players travelling at the same speed collides.. do you think hoglander will come out on top because he’s “stronger”? No he’s going to get sent flying by someone that have 10-15 lbs on him regardless of how strong or not. Momentum is mass x velocity. You don’t need to be strong to have more momentum. Small ppl can be pesky to play against but that doesn’t make them hard to play against and they tend to struggle against equal skilled players with size advantage 

That's not actually the case with a 10-15lb difference. His lower centre of gravity, strong core and legs likely send the other 10lb heavier guy flying (unless other guy is similarly built), so long as he's well braced for the hit.

 

Now if you're talking a guy 220-240lbs... Sure. But so would the majority of NHL players.

 

Hoglander's size (height really) isn't remotely a concern IMO. Whether he can translate his skills to this level and round out his defensive play are his biggest issues. 

[Bobby James]

His size is not concerning to me at all imo. 

 

He has a great motor, puck skills and strength. He needs to focus on his defensive game so he has more flexibility to play throughout the lineup if needed and he needs to improve his finishing. That could come with working on his shot as well as getting in games and being more comfortable out there to read the play. 

[Viper007]

1 hour ago, wai_lai416 said:

Again strong means nothing. When you don’t have the size to back it. It’s simple physics.. if 2 players travelling at the same speed collides.. do you think hoglander will come out on top because he’s “stronger”? No he’s going to get sent flying by someone that have 10-15 lbs on him regardless of how strong or not. Momentum is mass x velocity. You don’t need to be strong to have more momentum. Small ppl can be pesky to play against but that doesn’t make them hard to play against and they tend to struggle against equal skilled players with size advantage 

His first season, he seemed to come out with the puck more than he did this past season.  I think that's one of the reasons for the demotion too.  His board work wasn't good enough compared to his first season where he seemed to "want it" more.

[wai_lai416]

23 minutes ago, Viper007 said:

His first season, he seemed to come out with the puck more than he did this past season.  I think that's one of the reasons for the demotion too.  His board work wasn't good enough compared to his first season where he seemed to "want it" more.

He’s going to have to work extra hard to be effective. I still think he struggles to knock people off the puck because of size. Smaller player I still say needs to be productive to have a chance in the league.. yes they can be a little spark plug or what not.. but until garland is gone we don’t need 2 of them. Teams that are big and fast in the playoff seems to feast on these types of players.