Prospect Info: Tom Willander: 11th Overall 2023 Draft (Rogle BK J20) - Part 02

[David71]

let the kid finish off his season in BU, dont need to burn a year of his elc if he gets called up in march which i dont think willl happen wait till next year.

 

[F A N]

Okay. Just watched all his shifts from his first 4 games.

My 2 cents: Willander is a cerebral defense-first defender with a very nice set of tools - 4 way mobility, physicality, solid puck skills and smooth passing. As a defensive defender, he's not a very exciting player to watch. Very low event when he's on the ice and it's because he reads the play so well. Always in position. Off puck in his own zone, makes himself available as the release valve. Basically no brain farts through 4 games. Just consistently head on a swivel reading the play and keeping himself on the right side of the puck.

The downside is that this can lead to a passivity in his game that isn't great. He's at his best when he uses those great reads to assert himself and make strong physical plays. He did a great job of that in games vs. Holy Cross and UConn. Not so much vs. Union and Harvard.

As for those hoping that he'll come into his own as an offensive force in college hockey, I just don't see it. There's a reason he's PP2 (he's PK1). Cole Hutson is just so much more offensively dynamic and has built-in chemistry with Cole Eiserman from their US NTDP days. He's not going to beat out Hutson on that front and as I follow him this season, that's not what I'm going to watch out for. Rather, I'm going to see if he can be more consistently assertive both offensively and defensively. If he can, I think this kid can not only play 3rd pairing in the NHL by the end of the season, he can probably anchor a 3rd pairing at this stage.

Great post. IIRC, his pre-draft scouting report seems to indicate that he was too aggressive at times so I'm not too worried that he would end up playing a passive game.

 

[Diversification]

Thanks

Basically, his floor is Chris Tanev

He reminds me of Dan Hamhuis.

 

[Diversification]

Great post. IIRC, his pre-draft scouting report seems to indicate that he was too aggressive at times so I'm not too worried that he would end up playing a passive game.

It's not a matter of taking himself out of position (a la Juulsen), it's more that he's in such great position so early, he has the opportunity to do more on the play whether that's rubbing the guy out or stripping the puck and turning it up ice himself. That's the gear I want to see where he becomes a dominant defensive defender. He has it in him, but I think it's a matter of confidence.

 

[Diversification]

Yes I know, you shouldn't judge based on stats, but so far, the more offensively talented Hutson (on PP1) has less points than Willander.

Cole Hutson plays a very similar brand of hockey as his older brother Lane. Maybe a bit less of a rover but still an adventure in his own end.

 

[BenningHurtsMySoul]

If he can play at a $3-4 million dollar level for most of his ELC, that goes a long way to mitigating the OEL cap hit.

 

[credulous]

It's not a matter of taking himself out of position (a la Juulsen), it's more that he's in such great position so early, he has the opportunity to do more on the play whether that's rubbing the guy out or stripping the puck and turning it up ice himself. That's the gear I want to see where he becomes a dominant defensive defender. He has it in him, but I think it's a matter of confidence.

his passivity is the most frustrating part of his game for me. way too often he's caught just watching in both ends when the play is more static. he doesn't do a good job of putting himself in the right position to support the play and when he has the puck he's way too prone to just making an ultra conservative play to dump to a teammate. you very rarely see him make a good play with the puck when players are mostly standing still

his pairing with boumedienne is really bad for his development imo as boumedienne's best attribute is his play selection and his confidence with the puck. willander can easily get away with just leaving the puck for his linemate to pick up. it's going to be tough for him to improve much unless he gets away from that pairing (altho cole hutson would be an even worse partner in this regard)

his transition defense is excellent and his skating lets him break up a ton of plays before they develop but if he were to play in the nhl now he'd really struggle in the offensive end and i think he'd have issues with in zone defending against bigger and stronger players. he won't be able to make as much space with his skating in the nhl and he will get outmuscled on the boards unless he gets a lot stronger

again, i still think he's a pretty good prospect who has a good chance to figure some of this out but it's going to take time. people pencilling him with soucy for the playoffs are getting way, way ahead of themselves