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

[sting101]

Jason Bukala, former director of Amateur Scouting for FLA turned analyst, had some insight on WillanderEP25/Lekk on Canucks Talk (IIRC):

- Not ready to jump into the line-up yet. Would like to see him in the AHL next year
- Needs some work against players with speed, and obviously in the offensive zone
- Excellent skating and drive should keep him in call up territory though
- EP25 ahead and Lekkerimaki is the most ready
- Has always been a big fan of EP25

Worth a listen.

Can you post the link?

 

[Breakers]

Ive been saying this since november in this thread.

Boumedienne is too young to be in the NCAA
this is like the 7th game in a row where he has the worst game scores.
he is becoming unplayable and willander is paired with him constantly to baby sit him

away from Boumedienne....... good

 

[Bleach Clean]

Can you post the link?

Canucks Talk

Jamie Dodd and Canucks Reporter Thomas Drance combine to bring you the most in-depth Canucks coverage in Vancouver. They dive into all the issues that matter for any Canucks fan. Plus, hear exclusive interviews from the players and the team to stay up to date all season long.

www.sportsnet.ca

 

[VanJack]

Can you post the link?

Whenever a scout from elsewhere around the league, attempts to downplay another team's top prospect, I smell a 'rat'.

So Bukala, who used to scout for the Florida Panthers, thinks Wilander will need at least a year in the AHL. He could be right. But it could also be part of a strategy to 'undersell' a top prospect on another NHL team, in order to diminish his trade value.

 

[Vector]

Whenever a scout from elsewhere around the league, attempts to downplay another team's top prospect, I smell a 'rat'.

So Bukala, who used to scout for the Florida Panthers, thinks Wilander will need at least a year in the AHL. He could be right. But it could also be part of a strategy to 'undersell' a top prospect on another NHL team, in order to diminish his trade value.

How does that make any sense? He hasn’t had any association with the Panthers for 5 seasons.

 

[Reverend Mayhem]

How does that make any sense? He hasn’t had any association with the Panthers for 5 seasons.

It doesn’t, it’s just a conspiracy theory.

Scouts can be wrong, too. Hit rate tolerancy scouts I believe would be a lot lower on average than the average fan would think. It’s like baseball. 3 out of 10 is f***ing incredible.

 

[Breakers]

Ahhh yes

Got to love willander doing all the work down low, gets the turnover, hands the puck his teammate who for no damn reason turn back into his own goal and the puck is in the net 2 seconds later


my favorite

 

[Lindgren]

Ahhh yes

Got to love willander doing all the work down low, gets the turnover, hands the puck his teammate who for no damn reason turn back into his own goal and the puck is in the net 2 seconds later


my favorite

Who are they playing?
What's the score?
Any points for Willander?
is Celebrini still out with an injury?

 

[krutovsdonut]

i think dropping willander's rating because dpetey is rising does not make a lot of sense. it's not an either or proposition.

 

[F A N]

Willander isn’t going to be an offensive type player. He will be a guy who is more like Hronek. And that’s a fantastic player to add to an already really good D.

Well Hronek was drafted more for his offensive potential. Hronek was not expected to be a defensive shutdown-Dman type. Quite different from the expectations we have of Willander.

 

[Diversification]

i think dropping willander's rating because dpetey is rising does not make a lot of sense. it's not an either or proposition.

Agreed. 2 Swedish top 4 dmen playing on their ELCs?!?! Not on my watch!

 

[Diversification]

Ahhh yes

Got to love willander doing all the work down low, gets the turnover, hands the puck his teammate who for no damn reason turn back into his own goal and the puck is in the net 2 seconds later


my favorite

Willander is playing really well. So smooth and controlled in his own zone. Really interested to see whether he can do this against bigger, faster NHL forwards. If he can, he's going to have a very long NHL career.

Who are they playing?
What's the score?
Any points for Willander?
is Celebrini still out with an injury?

7th ranked Providence
5-2 Providence
yes, he has 2 apples on the PP
I believe so

edit: updated score

 

[Breakers]

Who are they playing?
What's the score?
Any points for Willander?
is Celebrini still out with an injury?

As another user said

providence is a top 10 ranked team, and ranked higher than BU
he's playing well

celebrini is back from injury, but is the 7th man
bad loss for BU, as they havent all season been able to string together 2 quality wins


they beat BC which was huge, then get blown out...... like uggghhhhhhh

 

[wetcoast]

It doesn’t, it’s just a conspiracy theory.

Scouts can be wrong, too. Hit rate tolerancy scouts I believe would be a lot lower on average than the average fan would think. It’s like baseball. 3 out of 10 is f***ing incredible.

This and generally he has really good write ups on prospects and his rankings always seem really decent.

 

[Nona Di Giuseppe]

Whenever a scout from elsewhere around the league, attempts to downplay another team's top prospect, I smell a 'rat'.

So Bukala, who used to scout for the Florida Panthers, thinks Wilander will need at least a year in the AHL. He could be right. But it could also be part of a strategy to 'undersell' a top prospect on another NHL team, in order to diminish his trade value.

**** this is ridiculous.

 

[WTG]

Ahhh yes

Got to love willander doing all the work down low, gets the turnover, hands the puck his teammate who for no damn reason turn back into his own goal and the puck is in the net 2 seconds later


my favorite

I don't think Willander staying one year in the AHL would be so bad. It's probably a conservative look at his development. It's incredibly difficult to step in an NHL lineup as a 20-year-old first-year pro defenseman.

The coaching staff in Abby also has done a really good job with the defenseman in Abby.

 

[VanJack]

**** this is ridiculous.

You can call it 'ridiculous' if you're so inclined. But if the trade rumor board means anything, almost every time the Canucks talk trade, the name of 'Wilander' is the first name that comes up. And why not?

Scouts around the league flock to the WJHC, where he just completed his second tournament. And BU is one of the most heavily scouted teams in the NCAA. They see the same thing as everybody else.

You can rest assured that over the next couple of weeks heading to the TDL, we're going to see a lot of chatter about Wilander. This needs 'work'. That needs 'work'. And he'll need as least a year or two in the AHL.

There's a lot of NHL teams out there would love to 'steal him' for the price of just a rental player. Fortunately Allvin isn't as 'gullible' as the previous occupant of the GM suite, who traded kids like Forsling, McCann and even Dylan Guenther for a song.

 

[Just A Bit Outside]

You can call it 'ridiculous' if you're so inclined. But if the trade rumor board means anything, almost every time the Canucks talk trade, the name of 'Wilander' is the first name that comes up. And why not?

Scouts around the league flock to the WJHC, where he just completed his second tournament. And BU is one of the most heavily scouted teams in the NCAA. They see the same thing as everybody else.

You can rest assured that over the next couple of weeks heading to the TDL, we're going to see a lot of chatter about Wilander. This needs 'work'. That needs 'work'. And he'll need as least a year or two in the AHL.

There's a lot of NHL teams out there would love to 'steal him' for the price of just a rental player. Fortunately Allvin isn't as 'gullible' as the previous occupant of the GM suite, who traded kids like Forsling, McCann and even Dylan Guenther for a song.

Guenther was never traded.

 

[Breakers]

I don't think Willander staying one year in the AHL would be so bad. It's probably a conservative look at his development. It's incredibly difficult to step in an NHL lineup as a 20-year-old first-year pro defenseman.

The coaching staff in Abby also has done a really good job with the defenseman in Abby.

No problem with it
He was the best player friday in the loss

And I didn’t watch Saturday but he was average by game reviews

It’s too much 1 win 1 loss with BU
Very frustrating situation

 

[beachcomber]

Guenther was never traded.

Jimbo never would have picked him either.

 

[RandV]

You can call it 'ridiculous' if you're so inclined. But if the trade rumor board means anything, almost every time the Canucks talk trade, the name of 'Wilander' is the first name that comes up. And why not?

Scouts around the league flock to the WJHC, where he just completed his second tournament. And BU is one of the most heavily scouted teams in the NCAA. They see the same thing as everybody else.

You can rest assured that over the next couple of weeks heading to the TDL, we're going to see a lot of chatter about Wilander. This needs 'work'. That needs 'work'. And he'll need as least a year or two in the AHL.

There's a lot of NHL teams out there would love to 'steal him' for the price of just a rental player. Fortunately Allvin isn't as 'gullible' as the previous occupant of the GM suite, who traded kids like Forsling, McCann and even Dylan Guenther for a song.

No it's ridiculous. The trade rumours board doesn't really mean anything, any time a team is buying the other team will always ask for the top prospect(s) first and pretty much never get it. What it typically comes down to is when you have other options you don't start by dealing from the top of your deck. There also isn't a 'rating' value on said prospect that can be pushed up or down based on mindless media chatter.

Canucks management & scouts are going to have their own perception on what Willander's value is to their team and they're not going to budge off that based on some outside opinion. Same with every other team and their own prospects.

 

[HockeyWooot]

He’s progressing well. I think his ceiling will be something of a Brodin or Hanafin type 2 way dman with strong defensive results.

Not a legit 1D but a #2/3, top calibre dman that can play workhorse minutes.

 

[Oliewud]

you have to see what u have in this player at the nhl level before u trade him

 

[AHLdepth]

One thing I know for sure is that if I wanted a career in journalism as far as being known as an evaluator of young talent then I would throw out the phrase "may need more time" as often as I possibly could.

Plus I don't think anyone was seriously under the impression he wouldn't get reps in in Abby first? The number of guys who are ready to jump from NCAA to NHL directly are limited at best. Especially so given that no one is projecting Willander (that I know of) as a true dynamic "can't miss" guy. But just a super solid, top 3, minute munching steadying presence. You look at the pairing USA has right now of Slavin and Faber and see the impact they have on a game, that's the style I'm anticipating Willander to be.

 

[sandwichbird2023]

One thing I know for sure is that if I wanted a career in journalism as far as being known as an evaluator of young talent then I would throw out the phrase "may need more time" as often as I possibly could.

Plus I don't think anyone was seriously under the impression he wouldn't get reps in in Abby first? The number of guys who are ready to jump from NCAA to NHL directly are limited at best. Especially so given that no one is projecting Willander (that I know of) as a true dynamic "can't miss" guy. But just a super solid, top 3, minute munching steadying presence. You look at the pairing USA has right now of Slavin and Faber and see the impact they have on a game, that's the style I'm anticipating Willander to be.

Vancouver management seems eager to play their college prospects/signings a few games in the NHL at the end of the season to burn off that first year of their ELC, they have done it with much lesser prospects in the past, I would expect them to do so for TW as well. However, with our depth on D now, I prefer if they start Willander in the AHL next season and let him get used to the pro schedule/speed, then work his way up. Whether he ends up on the NHL roster sometime during next season, or spend the whole year in the AHL next season, doesn't really matter. But spending some developmental time in the AHL is preferable to me, especially for a D, and doubly so since Abby seems to be doing really well developing D.