WHISTLER, B.C. — Sixteen months ago, at the end of Nils Hoglander’s rookie season amid the pandemic, the discussion around him was about his potential to become another of the Vancouver Canucks’ young, core players — someone essential to their future.
In training camp here ahead of the Swede’s third season, the discussion is whether he’ll even make the roster next month.
That’s how disappointing the second National Hockey League season was for Hoglander.
The dynamo forward plummeted from the Canucks’ top six and saw his minutes decline under new coach Bruce Boudreau, who even made Hoglander a healthy scratch in February before a groin injury a month later put an exclamation mark on the winger’s sophomore slump.
He had managed to exasperate two head coaches in one season, as both Boudreau and his predecessor, Travis Green, expressed concern about Hoglander’s play and awareness without the puck.
When he reported to Whistler, Hoglander found himself on Boudreau’s “fifth line,” assigned to skate with Linus Karlsson and Nils Aman, Swedish prospects who almost certainly will start the season in the American Hockey League.
Through two days of camp, Hoglander has done everything he can to prove he doesn’t belong there.
“I was going to say, let me talk about Hogs because I think he’s the best player on the ice right now,” Boudreau said Friday after the second day of camp. “He looks so much faster than he did last year. Determination. He’s definitely, you know, he’s definitely ready. Last year was a little bit of a setback for him and he doesn’t want it to happen again.”
Hoglander’s speed stands out, and on Friday he seemed to bury every good scoring chance he had during drills. But what was exceptional was his competitiveness, how physical and determined he was in his puck battles and one-and-one drills.
At five-foot-nine and 185 pounds, Hoglander is getting under the shoulders of taller players, using his strength and low centre of gravity against defenders.
“It’s definitely a response,” Boudreau said. “He saw who got signed and everything else. He’s counting (NHL jobs) and he’s going, ‘Well, I better get my stuff together.’ And he is. He’s doing a great job.”
The Canucks signed Russian free agents Ilya Mikheyev and Andrei Kuzmenko over the summer, and those guys are playing with Elias Pettersson far above Hoglander. But the team also rebuilt its fourth line, adding experience and size that will make it difficult for Hoglander to secure a spot there.
To play, he probably has to be in the Canucks’ top nine, possibly ahead of Kuzmenko if the newcomer struggles to adapt to the NHL and smaller ice or is held back by conditioning.
“You always want to be in the top lines, but sometimes you aren’t,” Hoglander said when asked about starting on the fifth line. “Then you just have to work your way up. It’s a challenge to come back again, and I take that challenge and I’m ready for it. I’ve been working all summer for this camp and this season, so I should be ready.
“I mean, this time of year, you’re always excited to come in and take a spot on the team. And I feel more excited now because I had it a little bit tough last year and I had the injury and I’m just ready to come back and show I can play.”
Hoglander’s sophomore season was far from a disaster statistically. He didn’t shoot as well or score as often, managing only 10 goals and 18 assists in 60 games after amassing 13 goals and 27 points in 56 games as a rookie. But he still drove possession with a shot share of 53.3 per cent.
His coaches, however, publicly noted the flaws and lack of structure in Hoglander’s overall game, and his average ice time fell to 13:05 from his rookie TOI of 15:27 when he was a sparkling source of hope in an otherwise dark and desultory Canucks season. Hoglander’s name periodically surfaced in trade rumours, and continues to do so.
“It’s not like the whole defensive zone, it’s small things, like coming back and stopping (on the puck or a check),” he acknowledged Friday. “It’s small things — not really harder than that. I know what I can do in the offensive zone.”
“Young guys, it’s always the hardest thing,” Boudreau said of playing without the puck. “Hopefully he learned a lot last year. Again, he’s going to be another one playing a lot of pre-season games and we’ll see how it goes. I certainly have liked exactly what he’s shown. (But) let’s call it like it is: It’s only two days. A lot of guys can look great in two days. Let’s see how they look in 10 days.”
The third and final day of training camp is Saturday. The Canucks’ pre-season opens with a pair of split-squad games against the Calgary Flames, home and away, on Sunday.
Especially for forwards, the Vancouver lineup looks a lot harder to make now than it was two seasons ago.
“I mean, you always want it to go up,” Hoglander said, angling his hand towards the sky, when asked about his trajectory. “But sometimes it’s going down, too. You have to be ready for that because it’s never going to go up the whole time. I mean, I had a good rookie season and then a little bit last year wasn’t that good. A lot of things happened with the team, and then the injury. So I’m just ready for this to show what I can do.”
CLEVELAND (AP) — Restricted free agent forward Isaac Okoro has agreed to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Okoro’s new deal is worth $38 million, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been signed or announced by the team.
ESPN.com first reported the agreement, citing Okoro’s representation.
The fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, Okoro is Cleveland’s best perimeter defender, often drawing the assignment of guarding the opponent’s top scorer. Okoro also has worked to improve his offensive game.
The 23-year-old averaged 9.4 points and 3.0 rebounds in 69 games — 42 starts — last season for the Cavs, who beat Orlando in the opening round of the playoffs before losing to eventual champion Boston.
Okoro shot a career-best 39% on 3-pointers, forcing teams to come out and guard him.
His agreement caps an extraordinarily busy summer for the Cavs that began with coach J.B. Bickerstaff being fired and replaced by Kenny Atkinson. All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell signed a three-year, $150 million extension in July, ending months of speculation that he wanted out of Cleveland.
Also, power forward Evan Mobley signed a five-year, $224 deal and center Jarrett Allen signed a three-year, $91 million extension.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
