Höglander showing signs he’s on the rise with Canucks

GAME DAY: VANCOUVER AT CALGARY, 7 P.M.

VANCOUVER — There are two questions to consider when you look at Nils Höglander: Can he improve his defensive play, and is he an 11-per-cent shooter or just an eight-per-cent shooter?

When the Vancouver Canucks have the puck, the truth is that Höglander shows plenty of statistical improvement in his game, even if there are some details to iron out.

Compared to his rookie season, when he proved to be a bright light in an otherwise difficult campaign for his team, the offensive numbers you’d like to see improve are improving.

Höglander is shooting more, with his individual shot-attempt rate up nearly one attempt per 60 minutes of even-strength ice time. His shots are better quality, with his individual expected goals per 60 minutes of even strength ice time up from 0.78 to 0.91.

And his individual improvements are playing out at a team level, too: when Höglander is on the ice at even strength this season, the Canucks as a whole are generating more shot attempts with him than last year and they’re giving up fewer shots.

Last year his shot-attempts for percentage was 50.4, an impressive split given how poorly the Canucks controlled play as a team then — they had just 46.3 per cent of shot attempts at even strength on the year as a whole.

This season, Höglander has boosted his shot-attempts-for percentage to 53.1 per cent, good for third best on the team, behind only Brock Boeser and Quinn Hughes.

The only dip is his shooting percentage at even strength. In his rookie season, he scored on 11.2 per cent of his shots. Over a full season, he was on pace for 19 goals. This season, Höglander has scored on just 7.9 per cent of his shots. That puts him on pace to score 15 goals.

While there’s lots of good offensive evidence to be seen, Bruce Boudreau still has concerns about Höglander’s defensive details. The opposition may be shooting less this year than last when he’s on the ice, but the quality of shots against is still too high.

“He’s still a young kid, quite frankly, and I don’t know, someday he might score 40 goals, but if you’re going to hover around the 20-goal mark, you better learn to play both ends of the ice,” Boudreau said. “As a guy that played overseas, he’s still learning that game.”

ICE CHIPS: Thatcher Demko returned to practice Friday after being cleared from COVID-19 protocol. He said he felt fine since testing positive over a week ago, but testing revealed a viral load that remained too high to be officially declared negative until Friday. He’s expected to start today vs. the Flames. … Boudreau said Horvat flew to Calgary from the U.S. on Friday after finally meeting Canadian border post-COVID-19 positive test time requirements and is expected to play today.