Prospect Info: Tom Willander: 11th Overall 2023 Draft (Rogle BK J20) - Part 02
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Lindgren
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is this a proposal? A pairing being used in a current game? If the latter, who are they playing? What's the score? How does Willander look? Does he have any points?
Bjornar Moxnes
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sting101
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I’d say the entire defense core as a unit has been a disaster. Can’t find anything that works.
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ask @M2Beezy 's mom
Lindgren
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There's got to be a poster who follows the Canucks and the NCAA (B.U. especially) and could provide interesting game-by-game commentary on Willander.
Isn’t that credulous? I thought I read he’s seen something like 30 of his games in the last 1.5 seasons.
He’s just very stubbornly refusing to tell us what we want to hear (ie ‘guaranteed to spot into the top 4 at the end of the season without skipping a beat, and then will easily be our #2 next season’)!!!
there's like 3 or 4 people who watch bu games regularly but no one wants to hear 'willander kind of invisible again' over and over
i can talk a lot about how i fear allvin has his eyes set on boumedienne with the canucks first in 2025 who has all the same flaws as willander but is smaller and slower but i don't think that will go over well either
i can talk a lot about how i fear allvin has his eyes set on boumedienne with the canucks first in 2025 who has all the same flaws as willander but is smaller and slower but i don't think that will go over well either
VIPettersson
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VD is a lifelong thing don't think it goes away
Lindgren
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I'd like to know, game-by-game, who he's paired with, what sort of power play time he gets, PK, even-strength usage (playing against top lines?), goals/assists/, and yes, a concise "not very noticeable" even if it's repetitive (and agreement or disagreement from the others who view the games).
If you include in every post an expression of skepticism about his future, well that just feels unnecessary and doesn't really contribute to anything. If your opinion is low enough that you're only interested in repeating the low opinion and not adding any detail, then there's not much point to that either, no matter how right you may be.
Posters keep trying to dredge up scenarios on a Wilander trade for immediate defensive help.
But trading a guy like Wilander for a blueline 'band-aid' would be the biggest mistake Allvin could make. That's because he's a superb-skating, right-shot d-man.
Right now, on the right side the Canucks have Hronek (gone for the next two months); Myers (34 and rising); Desharnais (on the trade block; Juulsen (a 7th d-man at best) and Friedman (an NHL-AHL 'tweener).
Wilander will be in the Canucks lineup sometime in March. And when arrives, I doubt he ever comes out,
But trading a guy like Wilander for a blueline 'band-aid' would be the biggest mistake Allvin could make. That's because he's a superb-skating, right-shot d-man.
Right now, on the right side the Canucks have Hronek (gone for the next two months); Myers (34 and rising); Desharnais (on the trade block; Juulsen (a 7th d-man at best) and Friedman (an NHL-AHL 'tweener).
Wilander will be in the Canucks lineup sometime in March. And when arrives, I doubt he ever comes out,
There's a snowball's chance in hell he gets traded. Who trades prospects a couple months before they make the jump to pro? I imagine it would have to be part of a larger shakeup to occur, because Willander's been in the future plans for a couple years now. By all accounts they love this kid.
Everyone will get a chance to watch him in a couple weeks at the WJC. Going off last year, Team Sweden plays much more of a pro style of hockey than Pondolfo's BU Terriers. It'll be a much better litmus test to see where he is at, compared to what's going on at BU this season.
Willander played near flawless positional defense last year at the tournament--so going in with that as a baseline, I'll be looking to see if he's improved his strength defensively in more static situations on the ice, like along the boards and net-front, and then looking to see where his confidence is at navigating breakouts and to a lesser degree, where his confidence is with possession in the offensive zone. Those are areas (particularly the first two) that will really be key if he's going to hit the ground running in the spring.
Everyone will get a chance to watch him in a couple weeks at the WJC. Going off last year, Team Sweden plays much more of a pro style of hockey than Pondolfo's BU Terriers. It'll be a much better litmus test to see where he is at, compared to what's going on at BU this season.
Willander played near flawless positional defense last year at the tournament--so going in with that as a baseline, I'll be looking to see if he's improved his strength defensively in more static situations on the ice, like along the boards and net-front, and then looking to see where his confidence is at navigating breakouts and to a lesser degree, where his confidence is with possession in the offensive zone. Those are areas (particularly the first two) that will really be key if he's going to hit the ground running in the spring.
?????
Lekkerimaki has 10 goals in 16 AHL games this season.
Regarding Willander: I do not like how quickly he has seemingly lost 1PP duties to Cole Hutson.
he never had 1pp duties. hutson got it right out of the gate. willander was switching off with boumedienne early on 2pp but it's mostly willander now with a little mccarthy
willander is the top pk guy with erghum tho
I might have missed the joke about him being "invisible" again on the weekend. He didn't play though, he was off with Team Sweden.
i'll make an effort to report on willander (objectively) going forward but yeah he won't play again until early/mid jan (for bu, he'll be the wjcs obviously)
Lost the... race? The privilege? Either way, it was supposed to be his to lose. Hutson's a quality player, and a name brand in Boston, but rookies shouldn't be coming in and stealing taking that crown within a month imo. I wish the coach would have explored more of what Willander could provide in that role. I would have liked to have see Willander have the opportunity to work on that side of the game more at the college level before making the jump to the NHL, because he won't get much time on the Canucks if they rush to sign him this spring.
Diversification
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I'm a Canucks homer and I wouldn't have Willander out on PP1 over Cole Hutson. Cole, like his brother Lane, is an aggressive puck carrier whose main strength is his dynamic offensive instincts that make him very useful for zone entries with possession. That's simply not something Willander excels at (and likely never will). In the times I've watched him (5 BU games this season, just taking in his shifts alone) he's got a lot of pro-translatable skills. He's fast, mobile, agile, aggressive along the boards and in front of the net, high defensive IQ. I don't know this for certain, but I suspect he'll look even better in a more structured pro environment. That's where his smart puck movement to exit the zone and his intelligent work along the offensive blue line will really shine.
But on the other side of the coin, he's not offensively dynamic, he plays a very safe game, which is concerning to some posters. They believe (and not without reason) that without the offensive upside, that he'll never be an integral piece for a d-corps with Cup aspirations. So it comes down to a matter of taste, I think. I tend to favor dmen that can absorb high leverage minutes. I think players like that are undervalued league-wide, they're nearly impossible to acquire in a trade and they have an enormous impact on team success. To me, whether or not that dman can also contribute 40+ points on the back end is really not a dealbreaker. Think Chris Tanev, Jonas Brodin or Brett Pesce.
strattonius
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Who cares about PP1? I want a defensive stalwart with good puck moving skills. If the kid just keeps getting better he will eventually have a chance.
We all want Willander to develop his offensive game but I don't think a PP1 role accomplishes that. PP1 on the point is such an isolated event. So much different than developing your offensive game at 5on5 in the offensive zone. The time and space is just a different ballgame.
Agreed. I also don't think the NHL is moving away from stacking PP1 with max 1 defenseman. Williander isn't going to get PP1 time here with a healthy Hughes and Hronek.
logan5
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Hronek is terrible on the power play. Willander is probly a lot more mobile moving around at the blue line (like Hughes), so he could potentially develop into a better pp2 option over Hronek. Willander can probly get shots through better as well, as Hronek is terrible at that.
