SwayBlog

When Tom Willander was 7 years old, his skating was so “terrible” he started to cry.

But he didn’t have to go far for help. For weeks during his school’s winter break, Tom and his father, Erik, a skills coach who trained Tom through youth hockey, went to a local rink in his hometown of Saltsjöbaden, Sweden, outside of Stockholm, to practice.

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“That’s where it all began,” Willander told The Athletic in an interview before being drafted 11th by the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday night.

In the years since, Willander became one of the top defense prospects in the 2023 NHL Draft, taken third behind David Reinbacher and Dmitriy Simashev. A 6-foot-1 right shot, Willander became one of the class’ biggest risers — projected at times to go late in the first round — after a strong showing at the U18 world junior championships, earning a silver medal with Team Sweden.

In Willander, the Canucks got a two-way defender who can play hard, take on heavy minutes and move the puck up ice with strong transitional play. The combination of above-average size, puck-moving ability and agility made Willander a coveted player in a draft stacked with talented forwards.

One NHL scout told The Athletic’s Corey Pronman that Willander “is the best defenseman” in the draft. “He’s such a good skater, I think he’s just going to keep getting better and better.”

“A defenseman like Tom — being a right shot and very mobile — is a lot tougher to find than a forward,” said Chris Abbott, the general manager of Rögle BK. “He’s got a lot of what teams need in the NHL.”

Willander, 18, is also charting his own path as the rare top Swedish prospect who plays college hockey in North America; he will be at Boston University in the fall.

There, he’s expected to play a big role for one of the NCAA’s top teams, thanks in part to the skill he built during those winter sessions with his dad.

“The kid can skate for days,” Abbott said. “He’s a really, really strong, efficient skater. That combined with his aggressiveness, defensive ability and details that he has, he projects to be a really good pro hockey player.”

It’s hard to imagine that one of the top defenders in the 2023 draft wasn’t playing the position full-time three years ago.

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But before Willander got to AIK’s junior under-18 squad in 2020-21, he was playing mostly on the wing, with some runs at center and some time on the blue line here and there.

“It was a late decision,” Erik said.

Willander started playing hockey at a young age after his mother, Maria, enrolled him with the hometown club in Saltsjöbaden. He played soccer and other sports, but by the time he was 8, Tom decided hockey was his game. As a winger, Willander “scored a lot of goals” because of his speed, his father said, but with AIK he eventually made the full-time move to the blue line.

Like his skating, it took some work.

“Playing one-on-one, that’s one thing. But playing defense from a technical and tactical perspective, he wasn’t really used to that,” Erik said.

Willander is a very self-aware player, knowing exactly what areas of his game need improvement. When he made the move to defense, he honed in on details like closing gaps, using his stick in lanes and skating or passing out of pressure. Willander’s spatial awareness and hockey IQ have become his strengths. There’s a calculated quality to his game that makes him reliable in all three zones.

“His elite elements are definitely his skating and his agility,” said former NHL scout and Sportsnet analyst Jason Bukala. “But I would also say that his ability to anticipate pressure, feel where pressure is coming and then make the proper play is really, really good.”

Once he felt that he’d developed enough in his own end, Willander began focusing on rounding out his two-way play. That’s something he brought to Rögle’s J20 team for 2022-23.

“I feel like I put a lot of hours into it,” Willander said. “Practicing during the season, having skills sessions, working on my shot, going through game (tape). That’s been the main point this season.”

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Willander’s model for two-way play? Miro Heiskanen.

“He’s a really good two-way defender,” Willander said. “I feel like we have similar strengths in our skating. He plays very smart. He can play big minutes. He isn’t too flashy in his game, which I like, but he’s very effective.”

Willander was a key player for Rögle, playing big minutes in all situations. He scored four goals and 25 points in 39 games, leading all defenders for the club en route to a J20 title. His two-way ability and offensive improvements were notable throughout his time with Rögle and the Swedish National team. Whether his offense translates to the NHL is still a fair question, but Bukala believes “we’re just tapping into that side of his game.”

“I just feel like there’s so many more levels to him,” Bukala added. “Every time I think I know what Willander’s floor is, he sets the bar and that moves his floor up another level. You’ve got a jack of all trades here.”

Willander progressed enough to become one of Sweden’s top players at the U18 tournament, capable of eating big minutes, quarterbacking the power play and contributing offense. His three goals led the tournament’s defenders. In the gold-medal game against Team USA, Willander played 31 minutes, often against the Americans’ top line of Gabe Perreault, Will Smith and Ryan Leonard. According to Erik, Willander was sick for the first three games of the tournament but was able to finish strong.

“He’s ready for the next step,” Erik said.

The next time Willander sees Smith, Perreault and Leonard — all commits to Boston College — it will be either in the Hockey East regular season or at the historic Beanpot championship.

It’s standard for top American prospects to play for an NCAA team in the Boston area. A top Swedish prospect with an offer to play pro at home? That’s rare.

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But it’s the route Willander has chosen, committing to Boston University, making him the highest-drafted Swedish prospect to play in the NCAA. Others include William Lagesson (91st in 2014), Gustav Nyquist (121st in 2008) and Carl Hagelin (168th in 2007.).

“Sweden has a great development program, just look at some of the players in the National Hockey League. That being said, I do think college hockey has become more appealing to the international players,” said Joe Pereira, an associate coach at Boston University. “There’s a lot of great players that came from college and it’s starting to entice these kids to want to come over. It gives them a chance to play with their age group a little bit more than starting to play pro hockey at such a young age.”

According to Pereira, Willander popped for Boston University during the Four Nations tournament in Plymouth, Mich., in November 2022. The staff went to watch another player on their scouting list, but Willander just kept standing out.

“It was his skating,” Pereira said. “It’s just hard to find guys who skate like that, especially on the backend.”

The pitch from BU was simple: Come play in a big hockey market at one of the top men’s hockey programs in the country with a track record of attracting NHL talent (Jack Eichel, Charlie McAvoy, Matt Grzelcyk), under coach Jay Pandolfo, a two-time Stanley Cup champion as a player with five years of NHL coaching experience under his belt.

“We made it pretty appealing,” Pereira said. “It’s a lot easier to recruit when you have players that have done what you want to accomplish.”

Rögle wanted him to move up to their pro team as a 17-year-old. But Willander wished to maintain his NCAA eligibility, which meant spending the season in the J20 league, not the SHL.

“We wanted to work with him quite early on with our pro team, but we were informed that he wanted to hold off on doing that,” Abbott said. “I still feel that he would have done very well continuing to develop with us and then potentially signing an NHL contract in the coming years. But, everybody goes their own road, so you just try and respect that decision.”

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By mid-January, Willander officially committed to play at BU, a move he made after seeing young players move up to the SHL and play limited minutes in favor of veterans more acclimated to the pro game.

“Rögle being a pro club, obviously their job is to win,” he said. “And what can sometimes happen with SHL teams is they don’t focus too much on the development of players and focus a lot on winning. That can be tough for younger players who don’t get the chance (to play). So it was about not risking having that (happen). And instead going for a more safe development path.”

With the Terriers, Willander will be able to play top-pair minutes — perhaps with Montreal prospect Lane Hutson — against top competition in a hard conference (Hockey East). And he will start the adjustment to defending on smaller North American ice sooner rather than later.

“He’s not going to be playing limited minutes or a limited role,” Bukala said. “He’s going to maximize his potential at BU right away. I thought it was a pretty mature decision.”

It’s also a decision that may pay off for the Canucks.

“You’re getting a guy that defends at an elite level that can skate, has power, and I think he’s the best transition D in the draft,” Pereira said. “I think you’re getting a great kid that wants to be a top-four guy and play in the National Hockey League.”

(Top photo: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)

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