Nils Höglander‘s leg injury is apparently somewhat serious.
Vancouver Canucks assistant coach Brett McLean confirmed Friday morning that medical tests taken Thursday on the Swedish winger confirmed he’s out week to week with a “lower-body injury.”
It’s a tough blow for Höglander, who looked set to at least fill a third-line depth scoring role this season. He was injured in the second period of Wednesday’s game vs. the Calgary Flames.
Before leaving the game, he’d scored a goal and looked his usual ferocious forechecking self.
According to CHEK-TV’s Rick Dhaliwal, Höglander is dealing with a sprained ankle.
Höglander being out for the near future leaves a door wide open for roster battles, McLean said.
“We’ve said all along: that competition is very high at this camp, and some players have played really well to this point, and so we’ll just let that competition play out,” McLean said. “But yeah, it opens up a spot for someone here. So there’s some guys that should be excited about that opportunity, but obviously we want to get Hoggy back as soon as we can.”
Immediately everyone will think of Braeden Cootes, who has impressed everyone so far. The Canucks have a number of depth forwards who needs waivers and if Höglander weren’t hurt, it would be very hard for Cootes to stick around.
But as it stands, decisions on the forwards who need waivers, like Linus Karlsson and Arshdeep Bains, can wait.