Nils Höglander has signed a new contract with the Vancouver Canucks.

Watch out Svech!

Well that was quick and a steal for the Canucks.

steal? He's 5'9 under sized wingers aren't steals.

He will make it to the NHL. His skil tools are amazing

The game is changing into more of a speed and skill league. Hoglander has those two qualities in droves.

Are you implying that deBrincat wasn't a steal for the Hawks?

Hoglander may be 5'9", but he certainly isn't undersized as he's 190lbs which makes him build like a mini fire hydrant. It sounds like he's an absolute freak in the gym too so that's 190lbs on a guy that's primarily lean muscle.

This is a myth. Yeah the league got faster. But like any sport, they just find faster bigger players.
Come the playoffs, smaller players are always rubbed out. Go ask TB about their collection of 5'10 forwards last year and how they spent both draft picks and cap space to "beef up" their lineup afterwards.

funny you mention that. Because you look at this year compared to last year and you realize what happens when they know to target you.
Hell he hasn't even seen the playoffs yet. Just wait and see how quick he would disappear there too.

You are implying a false correlation between other teams targeting a player and player's size. If anyone is targeted, regardless of size, the vast majority of time their point totals will decrease, unless they're truly an elite player.

sure thing. All these teams ding players based on their size for no reason at all. It doesn't matter at all, clearly. Hell you get put a team of 5'9 guys out there on the ice and they would win the cup.....said no one, ever.

I mean hell big and fast, that gets you no where in any sport anywhere. Clearly there are no advantages to that.

How tall do you think Brad Marchand is? One of the best playoff performers in the league. Size doesn't matter if you're an elite skill player and you're not afraid to play hard. Nils Hoglander has the skillset to be a dangerous top 6 player.

that's great you named one player out of 279 top 9 forwards in the league.
Solid. That one guy.
Did you forget to mention he's on whatis considered one of the dirtiest teams of the last two decades?
I mean you know. It's a lot easier to hide a guy behind a 6'9 chara, and the legion of goons that team has had over the years. But hey! good call.

Then there is reality of teams with tons more skill, like the penguins. Who got swept in 4 games by the goons on the islanders with their 4th line playing big minutes making players dissapper.
But you know, just randong things like that constantly happening in the league. Don't worry about that..... field your team of 5'9 forwards. Those penguins clearly weren't skilled.
Nor TB or every other team that has been straight bullied off the ice. That NEVER happens. I mean with all that skil lthose 5'9 players willing go into the boards, they never have their head on a swivle playing tight and moving the puck to quick. Never!!!

what game were you watching again? Cricket or something. Sure as hell wasn't hockey.

How are you this upset online at the thought that hockey players can be kind of small, and still be very good at hockey?

it's called sarcasm.

And no one said smaller players can't be good at hockey. Yes, there are a few rare ones who can. But they are RARE and indeed, 5'9 guys falling in the draft are not steals.
They fall for a reason. You clearly can't put those pieces together.

They aren't all that rare though. I'd argue they're a lot more common than a true physically dominant power forward with top 6 skill.

The voice of reason in me wonders why everyone is acting like this guy is the next Pettersson?

14 points in 40 games isn't exactly lighting up the SHL.
Pettersson had 56 points in 44 games at the same age.

yeah actually they are. One only need look at the active list of players to realize there might be 4 of them who are actually good players out of the 279 forwards in the league.
For every 1 Marchand you can find there are like 5 Shearys' out there. And when you look at their playoffs over the last 4 years it really shows. Guys like Arvidsson who play 6 games and score 0 points when games actually count for something. Meanwhile it has nothing to do with "power forwards" it has everything to do with being in the 6' or over area and having the size to beat up on the little guy while being just as fast. Which is why there are a whole lot more of those guys.

But you keep believing what you want.

Hopefully his "skill" is better than those other "skilled phenoms" like Ho-Sang & Milano...