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

 

[Bertuzzzi44]

With Hughes & Hronek on the top pairing, we need only 1 mobile puck moving defenceman in the bottom 4 with 3 big hard checking bruisers, would give us 3 big physical D & 3 mobile puck moving D, Brannstrom (Friedman) is a decent fill in but Willander would be the perfect fit next year imo and shouldn’t be used as trade bait. I know the Canucks are in win now mode and are going for it, we still have a shot at winning the Stanley Cup this year without sacrificing the future, Willander would set up the Canucks D nicely for the foreseeable future.

 

[Diversification]

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

I get what you're saying and I agree about the passivity. You can see that he can often do more on any given play but he often defaults to the safest possible option. What I would say is that some of your concerns are perhaps not warranted and it comes down to a question of meeting expectations at the next level.

I would say that his game is well-suited for a pro style system where players all fill a proscribed role. That's not the case in NCAA where defensive breakdowns are common and players are given long leashes to freelance. That's where he doesn't shine but that doesn't really bother me because at the next level he won't be expected to, for instance, drive offense. There, he'll just need to hold the line and put a couple shots through as the situation allows.

Where he'll shine is in all of the non-sexy facets of the game that are crucial for a minute munching defender: anticipating and defusing breakdowns, picking off passes, shutting down passing lanes, closing gaps to foil speed through the neutral zone, facilitating defensive zone exits with smart boardwork and astute passing.

If he does play for us near the end of the year, I would expect it would be paired with someone like Forbort or Desharnais on the 3rd pairing, filling in the role currently occupied by Brannstrom. Sort of a Brannstrom with the capacity to handle tougher minutes but with and less transition offense. But he'll still have the capacity to make stretch passes and make controlled zone exits on a regular basis.

 

[Bertuzzzi44]

Willander this year is an unrealistic dream, he’s minimum a full season away, just hopium from Canucks fans lol

 

[arttk]

I get what you're saying and I agree about the passivity. You can see that he can often do more on any given play but he often defaults to the safest possible option. What I would say is that some of your concerns are perhaps not warranted and it comes down to a question of meeting expectations at the next level.

I would say that his game is well-suited for a pro style system where players all fill a proscribed role. That's not the case in NCAA where defensive breakdowns are common and players are given long leashes to freelance. That's where he doesn't shine but that doesn't really bother me because at the next level he won't be expected to, for instance, drive offense. There, he'll just need to hold the line and put a couple shots through as the situation allows.

Where he'll shine is in all of the non-sexy facets of the game that are crucial for a minute munching defender: anticipating and defusing breakdowns, picking off passes, shutting down passing lanes, closing gaps to foil speed through the neutral zone, facilitating defensive zone exits with smart boardwork and astute passing.

If he does play for us near the end of the year, I would expect it would be paired with someone like Forbort or Desharnais on the 3rd pairing, filling in the role currently occupied by Brannstrom. Sort of a Brannstrom with the capacity to handle tougher minutes but with and less transition offense. But he'll still have the capacity to make stretch passes and make controlled zone exits on a regular basis.

I think there is a subtle difference between passive and conservative. I think Willander is conservative but not passive. Passive implies he is reacting to plays as it happens where Willander just opts for the lower risk play. Passive would be harder to fix where conservative hockey is not really an issue depending on the coaching and systems.

 

[Diversification]

I think there is a subtle difference between passive and conservative. I think Willander is conservative but not passive. Passive implies he is reacting to plays as it happens where Willander just opts for the lower risk play. Passive would be harder to fix where conservative hockey is not really an issue depending on the coaching and systems.

If you have ESPN+, I recommend you take in his game vs. Union where his passivity is pronounced. @credulous is absolutely right that he can puck watch at times and it’s not that he’s mesmerized, it’s more like watching someone looking for their opening to jump into a double Dutch rope. At those times, you would like to see him work on influencing the outcome rather than being in the right place to make a play when the battle has been resolved.

 

[credulous]

If you have ESPN+, I recommend you take in his game vs. Union where his passivity is pronounced. @credulous is absolutely right that he can puck watch at times and it’s not that he’s mesmerized, it’s more like watching someone looking for their opening to jump into a double Dutch rope. At those times, you would like to see him work on influencing the outcome rather than being in the right place to make a play when the battle has been resolved.

yeah he is conservative in his playmaking but i think it's a lack of confidence and/or slow decision making not just him being safe. again i don't think this is a fatal flaw that will prevent him from succeeding but it needs to get better for him to be a useful nhl defender