Contextualizing Tom Willander\u2019s growth and impressive start: Canucks Conversation<\/p>\n
On Monday\u2019s episode of Canucks Conversation, David Quadrelli and Harman Dayal took a closer look at Tom Willander\u2019s early-season rise and why his first stretch of NHL games has shifted the outlook on the Vancouver Canucks\u2019 blue-line depth.<\/p>\n
Coming out of camp, Willander wasn\u2019t expected to make an immediate push. He\u2019d shown flashes of what made him a first-round pick, but he also looked light and in need of reps. Harm began the discussion by noting how Willander\u2019s jump out of the gates took him a bit by surprise.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTom Willander has eight points in his first 19 NHL games as a defenceman. He\u2019s exceeded my expectations, and it\u2019s another sign of how well he\u2019s holding up at the NHL level<\/a>, which we didn\u2019t necessarily think was going to be the case based on how raw he seemed to look in the preseason,\u201d Harm said. \u201cWe were talking more about Mancini and D-Petey and what they were doing, so Willander was clearly the number three player in that conversation of young defencemen who could make an impact early. Now, he\u2019s number one in terms of impact he\u2019s making. D-Petey has had some downs with his defensive play; Mancini hasn\u2019t been able to translate his playing style into NHL success yet, so it\u2019s a positive storyline to have Willander making the impact he has been early on.\u201d<\/p>\n The shift has been noticeable. Instead of simply surviving in sheltered minutes, Willander has looked comfortable handling pace, moving pucks cleanly, and keeping mistakes manageable. His touches are quick, he doesn\u2019t overcomplicate plays, and he\u2019s earned more rope from the coaching staff because of it.<\/p>\n But Harm was careful to stress that this run hasn\u2019t been flawless.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s still a work in progress<\/a> \u2013 there\u2019s been ups and downs,\u201d Harm said. \u201cThere were moments, not as much lately but earlier in the year, when you could tell he needed to beef up in his net-front coverage; I think about the goal Winnipeg scored when they were in town and Adam Lowry just out-muscled him in front of the net. There\u2019s some situations where he can be caught out of position in his own zone, nothing glaring recently, but that\u2019s still a part of the game he\u2019s learning.\u201d<\/p>\n Those lessons are typical for young defencemen. Willander\u2019s reads around the crease are still developing, and he can lose inside positioning when plays break down. The physical side of defending heavy centres will come with time, but for now, the Canucks have tried to keep him in spots where his skating and anticipation can shine.<\/p>\n That mobility is where Harm believes Willander already looks NHL-ready.<\/p>\n \u201cDefensively, away from the puck, his best asset is rush-defending,\u201d Harm said. \u201cWhen we talk about areas he needs to work on and clean up, I\u2019m referring more to in-zone coverage \u2013 around the net front, in the slot, etc. But when it\u2019s one-on-one, there\u2019s a puck carrier coming down on Willander, that\u2019s arguably the most advanced part of his game so far. You see him snuffing out those kinds of plays, even when guys are coming at him with speed, because he has the agility to keep up with them, his timing on gapping up and poking the puck seems to be strong.\u201d<\/p>\n That ability to control entries has been a major reason he hasn\u2019t looked overwhelmed. When a young defender can kill rushes early, it cuts down on the extended defensive-zone shifts that often expose inexperience. Willander\u2019s skating and timing have allowed him to stay ahead of plays, giving the coaching staff confidence<\/a> to keep rolling him out.Offensively, his numbers have been modest but encouraging. Willander sits at one goal and seven assists through 19 games, including his first NHL goal in Saturday\u2019s win over Minnesota<\/a> \u2013 a night where he added an assist and looked more assertive jumping into plays.<\/p>\n For a player who entered camp viewed as a longer-term project, Willander has quickly become one of the more positive early-season surprises. The refinement will take time, but the foundation he\u2019s shown has already changed expectations for what he can bring this year and beyond.<\/p>\n Sponsored by bet365<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Contextualizing Tom Willander\u2019s growth and impressive start: Canucks Conversation On Monday\u2019s episode of Canucks Conversation, David Quadrelli and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":335556,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[49,48,61],"class_list":["post-335555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=335555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335555\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/335556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=335555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=335555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=335555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}