Tom Willander | D

[R3aL]

On 4/16/2024 at 1:53 PM, kettlevalley said:

Maybe Willander can bring Aidan along too.  They did play some together early in the season and those were Aidan's best games.  

I think Aidan will take a longer path and thats okay.

 

They are best friends and Aidan is better than I expected when we drafted him so who knows!

[Kootenay Gold]

32 minutes ago, R3aL said:

I think Aidan will take a longer path and thats okay.

 

They are best friends and Aidan is better than I expected when we drafted him so who knows!

Going to be interesting watching the two of them at development camp this summer.

 

 

[Ilunga]

6 hours ago, Coconuts said:

 

I'd prefer to take that approach with most contracts tbh

 

 

I get what you're saying, but I was thinking more about the OEL hit/Hughes expiry timeline

 

Having the first year of his ELC be 25-26 takes it through the worst two years of the OEL buyout and leaves him as a pending RFA with one buyout season remaining

 

He'd also be a pending RFA the same offseason Hughes is a pending UFA, whether that turns out to be a good thing or not is anyone's guess but it'd have him starting his second deal as Hughes begins what'd probably be his final deal

 

 

 

Yes those couple of years with the better part of 5 million in dead cap are going to be painful. 

 

Still blows my mind that the Wild have a had a few years of close to 15 million in dead cap. 

 

It will be interesting to see what management do in regards to signing our UFA's, who they retain, and how much they pay them. 

I have my own ideas however can't be bothered discussing those.

 

One thing I will say, unless something drastic happens with Hughes, injury, form, he should be the priority signing when his next contract comes up.

He is one player I would like to see, be a Canuck for the whole of his career.

[kettlevalley]

11 hours ago, R3aL said:

I think Aidan will take a longer path and thats okay.

 

They are best friends and Aidan is better than I expected when we drafted him so who knows!

 

Yes Aidan will take a longer path.  Just wonder if Willander can help Aidan be the man in Boston the year after Willander. Development can be a wonderful thing.  Amd not like Aidan doesn't have some pedigree.  

[WHL rocks]

On 4/16/2024 at 11:32 PM, Alflives said:

Yup. Willander will start playing on our D for an elc during the two most costly OElevator buyout years. Nice having management that knows what they’re doing, unlike Benning (the moran).

King Moron

President of the moron society 

[Alflives]

8 hours ago, WHL rocks said:

King Moron

President of the moron society 

Yes. Benning is the King moran. Hard to deny. Wisebrod is the prince moran. The moran twins. 

[Ghostsof1915]

On 4/17/2024 at 12:23 PM, Elias Pettersson said:

I’d love to keep Lindholm. Hope we can re-sign him to a reasonable contract. He is the best 3C in the NHL and can easily play as a 2C. So much flexibility. 
 

Don’t forget about Victor Alriksson as well. He is going to be a beast at 6’6”. 

My fear is Victor might be a big body and that's about it. After watching the game last night I was curious to see how Logan Stanley for the Jets is playing. He's a big kid, but I think more was expected from him for the Jets. (25 games 1 goal, 1 assist, he does have 45 hits and 40 blocked shots). I hope Victor develops nicely even to a reliable 3rd or 4th line player. That brings a physical game and a little bit of offensive upside.

[flat land fish]

On a canucks talk podcast they suggested Willander had a disappointing freshmen season.  Based on the quality of team he played on I thought he would have atleast maintained status relative to his draft position.  Thoughts?

[Whorvat]

18 minutes ago, flat land fish said:

On a canucks talk podcast they suggested Willander had a disappointing freshmen season.  Based on the quality of team he played on I thought he would have atleast maintained status relative to his draft position.  Thoughts?

Strongly disagree. First season in NA, had second most points among dmen on his team

 

I'd say he's exactly on the path we hoped he would be at this point in time

[flat land fish]

40 minutes ago, Whorvat said:

Strongly disagree. First season in NA, had second most points among dmen on his team

 

I'd say he's exactly on the path we hoped he would be at this point in time

That was my thought as well seemed like they were trying to provoke or trigger the audience 

[Blitz-Pix]

34 minutes ago, flat land fish said:

That was my thought as well seemed like they were trying to provoke or trigger the audience 

 

Media trolling IMO...was it Seravaili by any chance?

He seems to have a hard on for ripping the Canucks these days. LOL

[Curmudgeon]

33 minutes ago, Whorvat said:

Strongly disagree. First season in NA, had second most points among dmen on his team

 

I'd say he's exactly on the path we hoped he would be at this point in time

 

Wiilander began his first year in North America as an 18 year-old rookie playing at the highest collegiate level against guys as old as 22 and 23. He put up 25 points in 38 games, which is impressive, but he was also a +25, which underscores his strong defensive play. One more year at BU and then he will likely turn pro with a start in Abbotsford. I believe he has enormous upside.

 

[R3aL]

5 hours ago, flat land fish said:

On a canucks talk podcast they suggested Willander had a disappointing freshmen season.  Based on the quality of team he played on I thought he would have atleast maintained status relative to his draft position.  Thoughts?

Considering not many comparable for Swedish dmen to move over at his age to the NCAA, plus his position change etc.

 

He is a pretty unique prospect.

 

I think he did just fine. And considering he didn't get PP1 time with Hutson being there it wasn't expected for him to pile up points.

 

Now with Hutson gone, and Celebrini most likely leaving.

 

This is the season where he is going to be leaned on huge on the backend and we should get a really great read on where he is in his development after this upcoming season.

 

But nothing from this last season made me worried for him.

[MatchesMalone]

On 5/29/2024 at 12:25 PM, flat land fish said:

On a canucks talk podcast they suggested Willander had a disappointing freshmen season.  Based on the quality of team he played on I thought he would have atleast maintained status relative to his draft position.  Thoughts?

 

Should tell you something about the quality of that podcast.

[JamesB]

On 5/29/2024 at 11:25 AM, flat land fish said:

On a canucks talk podcast they suggested Willander had a disappointing freshmen season.  Based on the quality of team he played on I thought he would have atleast maintained status relative to his draft position.  Thoughts?

 

On 5/29/2024 at 4:05 PM, Curmudgeon said:

 

Wiilander began his first year in North America as an 18 year-old rookie playing at the highest collegiate level against guys as old as 22 and 23. He put up 25 points in 38 games, which is impressive, but he was also a +25, which underscores his strong defensive play. One more year at BU and then he will likely turn pro with a start in Abbotsford. I believe he has enormous upside.

 

Not sure about this podcast. I admit that I did not see him play much, but here is some additional public information about his 2023-24 year.

 

1.  In his first year of eligibility he played for Sweden at the World Juniors and was very good (4 pts in 9 games and +9). He is expected to be one of the team leaders in 2024-25.

 

2. He played in the best conference in the NCAA and played very well as a freshman. He led the team (BU) in +/- (+28) despite getting a lot of tough minutes. And his 25 pts in 38 games as a defenceman who is not the primary PP quarterback is also very good. He is noted for being excellent defensively and is a great skater. 

 

3. The Hockey News scouting report says he is "thriving" at BU and expects him to be one on of the best D-men in the NCAA in 2024-25 as a sophomore (in his Draft +2 season.)

 

4. There are a bunch of informal redrafts floating around and Willander generally holds steady at about #11.

 

I am happy with this pick. I don't see how the Canucks could have done better. Other options the Canucks considered included Zach Benson and Axel Sandin-Pellika (ASP) and they are both good. And other guys who were available included But, Matthew Wood, Brayden Yager and Gabe Perreault.

 

At the time I would probably have taken Benson but at this stage I would go with Willander.

 

(But it would have been nice to have that first round pick the Canucks traded to Detroit for Hronek. They could have had another very good NHL prospect. Detroit used that pick for ASP. Then Canucks might have picked him or someone else.)

 

Edited May 31 by JamesB

[Alflives]

15 minutes ago, JamesB said:

 

Not sure about this podcast. I admit that I did not see him play much, but here is some additional public information about his 2023-24 year.

 

1.  In his first year of eligibility he played for Sweden at the World Juniors and was very good (4 pts in 9 games and +9). He is expected to be one of the team leaders in 2024-25.

 

2. He played in the best conference in the NCAA and played very well as a freshman. He led the team (BU) in +/- (+28) despite getting a lot of tough minutes. And his 25 pts in 38 games as a defenceman who is not the primary PP quarterback is also very good. He is noted for being excellent defensively and is a great skater. 

 

3. The Hockey News scouting report says he is "thriving" at BU and expects him to be one on of the best D-men in the NCAA in 2024-25 as a sophomore (in his Draft +2 season.)

 

4. There are a bunch of informal redrafts floating around and Willander generally holds steady at about #11.

 

I am happy with this pick. I don't see how the Canucks could have done better. Other options the Canucks considered included Zach Benson and Axel Sandin-Pellika (ASP) and they are both good. And other guys who were available included But, Yager, Matthew Wood and Brayden Yager.

 

At the time I would probably have taken Benson but at this stage I would go with Willander.

 

(But it would have been nice to have that first round pick the Canucks traded to Detroit for Hronek. They could have had another very good NHL prospect. Detroit used that pick for ASP.)

 

Then we don’t have Hronek though. Plus ASP can’t play without the puck. He’s not an NHLer. He’s basically that Bustowitz guy. Adam Boquist bad. Soft. 

[Eddie]

On 5/29/2024 at 11:25 AM, flat land fish said:

On a canucks talk podcast they suggested Willander had a disappointing freshmen season.  Based on the quality of team he played on I thought he would have atleast maintained status relative to his draft position.  Thoughts?

 

I'd send that Podcast straight to the trash if I were you bud. 

 

I've only seen about 10 of his games between BU and Team SWE but I gotta say he's trending to be exactly what we need.  He's looking like he has the potential to be better than Hronek IMO. The kid has size, skating and vision. He will fit the mold of a solid 1-2 D who can transition the puck well and chip in on offense. None of the players in the area we picked are trending to be much better. 

 

His BU stats are very similar if not arguably better than Charlie McAvoy. That should tell u enough - he could well turn out to be as good as if not better too. 

 

I'm willing to book this kid as a can't miss prospect at this point, barring some terrible injury or something. That's not to say he's perfect or you should be pencilling him into next seasons lineup. Gap control and aggression can still be a problem especially, He has some developing to do still. But he's progressed all year and continues to do so. I think he will have even better next year as 'the man' at BU with some of the more senior players leaving

[Hammertime]

On 4/17/2024 at 12:23 PM, Elias Pettersson said:

I’d love to keep Lindholm. Hope we can re-sign him to a reasonable contract. He is the best 3C in the NHL and can easily play as a 2C. So much flexibility. 
 

Don’t forget about Victor Alriksson as well. He is going to be a beast at 6’6”. 

I think Lindholms a really good fit for Bos they probably out bid us and I'm OK with that. If they get a great deal I'll be pissed. Though. 

[Alflives]

8 hours ago, Hammertime said:

I think Lindholms a really good fit for Bos they probably out bid us and I'm OK with that. If they get a great deal I'll be pissed. Though. 

What’s a really good deal? 

[112]

1 hour ago, Alflives said:

What’s a really good deal? 

I'm not the poster you quoted but I'd say under 7.5M.

[Alflives]

21 minutes ago, 112 said:

I'm not the poster you quoted but I'd say under 7.5M.

That seems about right for Lindy. Term would be important too. Bruins can only go seven years. They might need to go 8 per to get Lindy. 

[Hammertime]

53 minutes ago, Alflives said:

That seems about right for Lindy. Term would be important too. Bruins can only go seven years. They might need to go 8 per to get Lindy. 

Ya if they get him low 7s I might be a little salty. But it's his life he can do what he wants. 

[Rip The Mesh]

 

[Rip The Mesh]

 

[Rip The Mesh]

See who plays with Abbotsford and who goes elswhere to play hockey next year..

Edited July 2 by Rip The Mesh