He seems so mature. Definitely a future NHLer. I wonder what his ceiling is. Next year may be a better indicator.
TurbanGhetto
Jason Bukala (a former NHL pro scout who was very high on him before the draft) was recently interviewed on his thoughts on Willander on his freshman season to this point…
(paraphrasing):
He’s been very impressed with him and says just like his game really improved in the latter part of last season in Sweden, he appears to be progressing in the 2nd half of this season as well.
To this point he already sees him as a top 4 NHL d-man when he’s ready for the NHL, with his upside as a 2.5 (which he says is a #3 or #4, but he can jump up onto the top pair and fill in for stretches when needed)
He further stated that if his offensive game developes next season that 2.5 could go up but at this point we should all be very happy to have selected him.
All in all he seemed to be a huge fan of his.
Kind of compared him to Weegar but said he’s a better skater and probably better defensively at the same age.
arazamatazguy
This interview was pretty boring. Should’ve asked what like is like on campus? What’s a normal day like at BU? etc.
ubcthrowaway-01
He’s gonna be great. I’ve heard he’s excelling on the second pair and but somewhat struggles on the top pair with Hutson. I imagine that changes next season.
I see him one day upgrading to a number 1 or 2 defensemen of course. In terms of Canucks, I don’t think he’ll pass Hughes but he’ll need to compete with Hronek for top pairing. Would actually benefit from playing with an older presence like Zadorov or Soucy on second pair
5 Comments
He seems so mature. Definitely a future NHLer. I wonder what his ceiling is. Next year may be a better indicator.
Jason Bukala (a former NHL pro scout who was very high on him before the draft) was recently interviewed on his thoughts on Willander on his freshman season to this point…
(paraphrasing):
He’s been very impressed with him and says just like his game really improved in the latter part of last season in Sweden, he appears to be progressing in the 2nd half of this season as well.
To this point he already sees him as a top 4 NHL d-man when he’s ready for the NHL, with his upside as a 2.5 (which he says is a #3 or #4, but he can jump up onto the top pair and fill in for stretches when needed)
He further stated that if his offensive game developes next season that 2.5 could go up but at this point we should all be very happy to have selected him.
All in all he seemed to be a huge fan of his.
Kind of compared him to Weegar but said he’s a better skater and probably better defensively at the same age.
This interview was pretty boring. Should’ve asked what like is like on campus? What’s a normal day like at BU? etc.
He’s gonna be great. I’ve heard he’s excelling on the second pair and but somewhat struggles on the top pair with Hutson. I imagine that changes next season.
I see him one day upgrading to a number 1 or 2 defensemen of course. In terms of Canucks, I don’t think he’ll pass Hughes but he’ll need to compete with Hronek for top pairing. Would actually benefit from playing with an older presence like Zadorov or Soucy on second pair
He looks awfully skinny he need to ad muscle