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

Petey O

Laffy Taffy's gonna chew you up.
Feb 26, 2021
5,376
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Canguker
Well f*** me. Click on a post hoping an update on the prospect in the title, but no, mostly just "doods" replying to each other and blah blah blah.

Willander...any new news on him? No? Ok, let the thread go dormant until something happens...sweet...
Wasn't this forum founded upon discussing prospects?

Getting upset about people talking about prospects on this forum is a bit odd.
 

Wry n Ginger

Water which is too pure has no fish
Sep 15, 2010
1,058
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Victoria
Wasn't this forum founded upon discussing prospects?

Getting upset about people talking about prospects on this forum is a bit odd.
Ahh...I see

Not prospects in general. And the "forum" has several sub categories to discuss specific prospects. Sorry that bit got away from you chum.

This one had a title indicating its for Willander conversation.
 

F A N

Registered User
Aug 12, 2005
18,714
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Ahh...I see

Not prospects in general. And the "forum" has several sub categories to discuss specific prospects. Sorry that bit got away from you chum.

This one had a title indicating its for Willander conversation.

So you're surprised that posters have gone off-topic? :sarcasm: To be fair, this thread has been relatively on topic.
 

VanJack

Registered User
Jul 11, 2014
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I think a better comparison for Wilander might be Miro Heiskanan, but obviously a bit slighter and minus the dynamic offense.

But Wilander was drafted because of his elite skating ability. It's big year coming up for him at BU. Hopefully he can add some offense, although 4 goals and 21 assists in 38 games isn't too bad for an 18-year old.

For comparison sakes, Quinn Hughes had had five goals and 24 assists in his 18-year old season at Michigan. And was only slightly better as a 19-year old with five goals and 28 assists.
 

MS

1%er
Mar 18, 2002
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I think a better comparison for Wilander might be Miro Heiskanan, but obviously a bit slighter and minus the dynamic offense.

But Wilander was drafted because of his elite skating ability. It's big year coming up for him at BU. Hopefully he can add some offense, although 4 goals and 21 assists in 38 games isn't too bad for an 18-year old.

For comparison sakes, Quinn Hughes had had five goals and 24 assists in his 18-year old season at Michigan. And was only slightly better as a 19-year old with five goals and 28 assists.

Hughes' pedestrian results at lower levels compared to what he's done in the NHL - and, like, literally since his first game in the NHL - are one of the most baffling things I've ever seen.

14-0-5-5 across two WJCs. Dylan Samberg outscored him for the US over those two tournaments.
 
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credulous

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Hughes' pedestrian results at lower levels compared to what he's done in the NHL - and, like, literally since his first game in the NHL - are one of the most baffling things I've ever seen.

14-0-5-5 across two WJCs. Dylan Samberg outscored him for the US over those two tournaments.

hughes results at michigan are elite when put in context. put up more than a point a game on a team whose next leading scorer was will lockwood and whose only notable other players were a freshman blankenburg and josh norris. his results as a true freshman and on the ntpd team were very good too considering how badly those teams performed offensively
 
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MS

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hughes results at michigan are elite when put in context. put up more than a point a game on a team whose next leading scorer was will lockwood and whose only notable other players were a freshman blankenburg and josh norris. his results as a true freshman and on the ntpd team were very good too considering how badly those teams performed offensively

The context is that this is a generational offensive defender who looks like he's going to be one of the top 5 skill defenders of all time.

A player this good, you'd expect to see insane Crosby/McDavid numbers at lower levels. Dominating WJCs.

His first year at Michigan, he slightly out-produced a nobody 6'3 defensive defender on his own team named Joseph Ceccini.

His second year at Michigan his numbers were very good and maybe 'elite' for NCAA but still not really eye-catching stuff. Again, marginally better than a guy named Bobby Nardella playing for Notre Dame in Hughes' conference with a similar low-scoring team.

And really did nothing at the WJCs.

This isn't the profile of a player who would be winning Norris Trophies and putting up 90-point seasons in the NHL 5 years later.
 

Blue and Green

Out to lunch
Dec 17, 2017
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I think a better comparison for Wilander might be Miro Heiskanan, but obviously a bit slighter and minus the dynamic offense.

But Wilander was drafted because of his elite skating ability. It's big year coming up for him at BU. Hopefully he can add some offense, although 4 goals and 21 assists in 38 games isn't too bad for an 18-year old.

For comparison sakes, Quinn Hughes had had five goals and 24 assists in his 18-year old season at Michigan. And was only slightly better as a 19-year old with five goals and 28 assists.
Wilander as a freshman is eight months older than freshman Hughes was. And, Hughes led Michigan in points as a sophomore even though he played a few less games than his next four highest scoring teammates. BU scored just over four goals per game this season. Michigan averaged about 3.4 in Hughes' freshman season and barely over three in his sophomore season.
 
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Blue and Green

Out to lunch
Dec 17, 2017
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The context is that this is a generational offensive defender who looks like he's going to be one of the top 5 skill defenders of all time.

A player this good, you'd expect to see insane Crosby/McDavid numbers at lower levels. Dominating WJCs.

His first year at Michigan, he slightly out-produced a nobody 6'3 defensive defender on his own team named Joseph Ceccini.

His second year at Michigan his numbers were very good and maybe 'elite' for NCAA but still not really eye-catching stuff. Again, marginally better than a guy named Bobby Nardella playing for Notre Dame in Hughes' conference with a similar low-scoring team.

And really did nothing at the WJCs.

This isn't the profile of a player who would be winning Norris Trophies and putting up 90-point seasons in the NHL 5 years later.
Cale Makar was a D+1 freshman, a year older than Hughes, and had 21 points in 34 games at UMass-Amherst.
 
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biturbo19

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Jul 13, 2010
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Isn’t Boyle an offensive D?

He gets kind of pigeonholed as that, but especially later in his career, he was far more of an all-around minute muncher who just happened to be very good offensively as well. But he was a darn smart defensive player.


Personally, i'm not sure it'd be the most direct comp or projection all around...but i do find Willander reminds me a ton of Boyle, stylistically at least. Willander doesn't have nearly the same aggressive, dynamic offensive streak (at this point at least and especially in the role he was asked to play this year - and probably never will). Probably won't ever run a powerplay the same way so the production will never be there. Willander is also a bit bigger. But the way they skate and use that to defend is very similar to me. And frankly...they just visually/stylistically look very similar to me on the ice.


So i can get behind that in a sense. I don't really get the Slavin thing. I feel like he's just become a generic "catch-all" for "really good defence-first defenceman". In the same sense that every "non-physical no offense defenceman" is Chris Tanev to Canucks fans. But Slavin skates and defends very differently to Willander imo, and Slavin's bigger, lanky frame stands out more in the way he defends, compared to Willander.

The prevailing comp around the draft here seemed to be a "Hamhuis type" and tbh, that's probably not the worst comp overall...though i don't find that they look all that similar on the ice, so it's more of the other elements of projection.

Comparisons are always a bit of a weird mashup of "role" and "style" though, with "plus this" or "minus that". And on the lazier end, just matching up a similar size player with comparable projected scoring results.
 

credulous

Registered User
Nov 18, 2021
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The context is that this is a generational offensive defender who looks like he's going to be one of the top 5 skill defenders of all time.

A player this good, you'd expect to see insane Crosby/McDavid numbers at lower levels. Dominating WJCs.

His first year at Michigan, he slightly out-produced a nobody 6'3 defensive defender on his own team named Joseph Ceccini.

His second year at Michigan his numbers were very good and maybe 'elite' for NCAA but still not really eye-catching stuff. Again, marginally better than a guy named Bobby Nardella playing for Notre Dame in Hughes' conference with a similar low-scoring team.

And really did nothing at the WJCs.

This isn't the profile of a player who would be winning Norris Trophies and putting up 90-point seasons in the NHL 5 years later.

by this logic you'd expect lane hutson to win the next 10 norrises (except the ones zeev buium wins)
 

Zarpan

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Apr 27, 2010
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No, the logic is fine. All S are P doesn’t mean all P are S.


You don’t expect players to become vastly more productive as they move up levels.

I think that speaks to Quinn's work ethic. There's absolutely nothing in his past statistical profile that suggested he'd score 17 goals this season. He's spent a lot of time working on his shot and figure out how to get into better shooting areas.
 

arttk

Registered User
Feb 16, 2006
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I think that speaks to Quinn's work ethic. There's absolutely nothing in his past statistical profile that suggested he'd score 17 goals this season. He's spent a lot of time working on his shot and figure out how to get into better shooting areas.
I think people really underestimate the power of practicing and working hard.

Let’s hope Willander has some mamba in him and will work on his game like a madman like right f***ing now.
 

Brock Boeser Laser Show

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Sep 27, 2017
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Lots of obsession over a play here or there in the frozen four.

It's key to remember that every Defenseman will make mistakes and it's just the nature of the position. Even a top shutdown defenseman like Jacob Slavin looked silly on that 1st Islanders goal.
 
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People probably won’t want to hear this but Willander plays a game more like OEL than Dan Boyle. The offensive upside is there if he puts it together and defensively he’s above average.
 

VanJack

Registered User
Jul 11, 2014
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A better assessment of Wilander's season comes from the World Jr. Hockey Championships, rather than the NCAA.

Playing against kids his own age, he was a solid top-four d-man on the Swedish team which won the silver medal. He figured to have his ups and downs playing against guys much older and more physical on a smaller rink in N.A.

Predicting it now, he'll be a lot better as a sophomore, and will flash far more of his first round pedigree.
 

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