Insider Says There's Real Interest In Canucks' Hoglander From Metro Team

The Pittsburgh Penguins, without rebuilding, seems like the team that is attempting to bring in young talent that may have fallen out of favour with another team or are in need of a change in scenery. This has been the case multiple times already to potentially make it an easier transition after Sidney Crosby and the veterans retire or depart, or to see a quick turnaround before any major changes are made in the organization.

The next player that seems to be on Kyle Dubas and the Penguins' radar is Nils Hoglander from the Vancouver Canucks. Elliotte Friedman reported that he thinks the Penguins have real interest in the young winger.

Hoglander is currently playing on the third line in Vancouver and the 23-year-old has just two goals and five points in 24 games. Not unlike Philip Tomasino from the Nashville Predators, the Penguins may be hoping to bring in a talented younger player who's struggling for a greatly reduced price and see how they do in Pittsburgh. It worked with Tomasino and given Hoglander's 2023-24 season, he has the ability to be a game-changing middle-six winger.

Hoglander scored 24 goals and 36 points in 80 games last season, his fourth with the Canucks. He is in the second and final year of a two-year, $1.1 million AAV contract. He has already been re-upped for three more years at $3 million AAV, so it'll be a chance Pittsburgh would be taking.

Hoglander will most definitely not garner a first-round pick, not with the type of season he's had. The Canucks would be lucky to get a second-rounder at this point. I think the Penguins would be willing to go as high as a second-round pick, but that's just me speculating. He scored 24 goals last season, he's young, hungry, and fairly cheap.

We'll see how this plays out, but Vancouver may be open to moving Hoglander to make their team better and the Penguins are trying to take chances and hit on some young players.