I’m now more and more convinced the most likely route management has chosen go in is to use TW to strengthen the top 6…
What we all know: Our ‘D’ has become the team strength and there is the obvious glaring hole(s) in the top 6.
I’m sure they don’t want to give him up, but they also think trading him hurts the team on the ice the least next season (and we all know next season is always pretty much the only thing that really matters around here).
I think Willander is going to be a really solid top 4 NHL d-man for a long time…
…but I wonder if they were expecting his offensive and/or breakout game to develop more when they drafted him hoping because of his late transition to playing d there was a lot more room for development in those aspects, and that they haven’t seen as much improvement as they’d hoped when he was picked.
I also wonder if that’s why they are playing hardball here:
they don’t want to set a precedent of caving in on their internal structure for the bonuses for a guy they see as likely to be traded away as that will effect future negotiations with our first round picks (assuming of course we ever make and sign a 1st round pick again)…
…also possibly why they aren’t too concerned with straining the relationship with him by playing hardball.
The hockey season is still 100% continuing for the organization. There should be some type of urgency to see him play pro hockey in a playoff environment in Abby…
…unless they already have a very good idea of what other GM’s think of Willander (and what his value is) and it just isn’t worth it for them to play him in case he underperforms or gets injured.
Great post.
I don't mind moving Willander because he's not the type of prospect that's going to boom and make you really regret it. He's a low ceiling/high floor type of prospect. With his skillset, he's almost assuredly going to be a 20 minute top 4 defenseman that can play on the PK and maybe a PP2 unit.
In almost all trade talks, the GMs are probably asking for Willander as RD is probably the most coveted position behind center.
Willander had 2 goals and 5 points to start his first 5 games of the season. Looked like a breakout year but that didn't end up happening. This was supposed to be his year to be PP1 QB and Cole Hutson came out of no where to take that job. Cole ended up with 14 goals, 48 points in 39 games.
When Willander was drafted, Hronek only played 4 games for us at that point. It's been 2 full years since the pick was made. Since then, these things have transpired:
- Hronek has established himself as a legitimate #2D
- Acquired a legit top four defenseman in Marcus Pettersson
- Acquired a 22 year old RD with some real NHL upside (8 points in 31 games)
- Emergence of DPetey - can play both sides and looks better game by game... he JUST turned 21, insane growth in a short amount of time
- Myers continues to play some of his best and most consistent hockey for us despite turning 35 - he wants to stay and can likely still be an effective contributor on the right side for another 2-3 years
- Emergence of Sawyer Mynio and Kirill Kudryavstev - both prospects (albeit on the left side) are rapidly rising amongst the prospect group)... especially Kudryavstev... 26 points in 65 games in his rookie year in the A, looked good in his call-up too.... only 21
At the time of the pick, Willander made a lot of sense, but with all the things that have happened in between... the D core is a legit strength of this team. Haven't even brought up viable options in the A like a McWard, Hirose, Wolanin, Woo, Briesbois. This defense is really 10-12 guys deep right now.
I think this organization putting Junior on the right side is so intriguing. Usually you wouldn't make a 21 year old rookie play on their off-side (in the midst of a playoff hunt no less). The fact that there's not really a drop-off in play on either side makes him so valuable. The combination of size, physicality and skating ability is so rare. I think DPetey is ahead of Willander right now and might be our #1 prospect.
The easiest part to stomach, when it comes to trading Willander, is that he won't be a high producing offensive dman/gamebreaker at the NHL level. He doesn't have the puck skills, offensive IQ and shooting ability for that archetype of a player. If he hits, his high-end comp is probably like a Jonas Brodin.
Willander's definitely an ace in our sleeves. The UFA market is not good but if Willander is available, I think there would be many attractive top six pieces available. I know Buffalo would never say yes but a Kulich for Willander swap would be amazing for us. Kulich is going to be a really good top six center for the next decade.
