The Edmonton Oilers are continuing their search for depth scoring, as they are nearly every season, and this year they may consider forward Nils Hoglander from the Vancouver Canucks.
Hoglander is currently in the doghouse with coach Rick Tocchet, which could mean a trade will follow soon according to some insiders. Hoglander was benched in the third period of the Canucks last game, playing the least amount of ice time so far this year. In 14 games this season, Hoglander has 2 goals and 5 points.
Still only 23 years old, there's reason to believe Hoglander will be able to find his game again. Just last season, he scored 24 goals in 80 games. Hoglander was selected in the second round of the 2019 draft by the Canucks, so he's still young with draft pedigree.
Cam Lewis of Oilers Nation wrote that Edmonton should consider buying low on Hoglander, but it simply doesn't make much sense. The Oilers have bigger problems than secondary scoring, like defence and goaltending, to be able to spend on Hoglander.
Hoglander is a skilled left winger that's shown an ability to produce in bottom six minutes, and also succeed when being moved up the lineup. He could be a positive asset to the Oilers lineup, but at his salary, it would be nearly impossible to make it work. Also, Jeff Skinner essentially has that role already.
The Canucks signed Hoglander to a three year contract worth $3M a season earlier this year, but Vancouver's President Jim Rutherford would be no stranger to making a bold trade. They did so with Kuzmenko, Daniel Sprong, and even Vasili Podkolzin already to the Edmonton Oilers.
We'll see in the coming weeks if Hoglander does end up getting moved. A 23 year old with 20+ goal experience in the NHL will cause quite a stir among teams trying to acquire him.
