Top prospect Willander meets with Canucks' brass ahead of NHL Draft

From the Sedin twins to Markus Naslund, to Elias Pettersson, the Vancouver Canucks have never shied away from making Swedish stars the faces of their franchise.

And though that sort of label might be a lot of pressure to put on an 18-year-old, there’s at least a decent chance they could be trending towards adding another high-profile Swede into the mix later this week.

In an interview with TSN’s Mark Masters, prospect Tom Willander spoke about the possibility of getting selected 11th overall by Vancouver at this year’s draft.

Willander, a 6-foot-1 180-pound right-shot defenceman set to join the NCAA’s Boston Terriers this fall after playing the past year for Sweden’s Rögle BK junior team, described his meeting with the Canucks management ahead of the NHL Draft taking place on Wednesday and Thursday this week.

“I’ve spoken a little bit to them, they seem like a good group. I met their GM, assistant GM, very nice people,” the 18-year-old said. “Who doesn’t like Vancouver? It’s a great place, for sure. We’ll see what happens, but sounds exciting.”

Willander was also asked about his relationship with Vancouver general manager Patrik Allvin, the first Swede to hold that job title in league history.

“I don’t know him that personally, but I think it’s fun, we spoke a little bit in Swedish. There’s some connection there. It’s good, for sure,” Willander said.

Despite his glowing reviews of the city, Willander says he isn’t actually sure if he’s visited Vancouver before.

“I might’ve been when I was small, but I don’t remember, I was in a lot of places in Canada when I was a bit younger.

But the reviews that have been flowing towards his way have been positive, it seems.

“It’s a hockey town for sure, as is most of Canada. It’s a very beautiful place, as in terms of just the looks, the city, it’s supposed to be a beautiful town, I’ve heard. Sounds great,” he added. “I can imagine that would be quite high-pressure, but it would be quite high-risk, high-reward… I usually don’t have any issues dealing with pressure.”

Willander is ranked 8th by TSN’s Craig Button in his pre-draft rankings, while most other major rankings have him in the 10-20 range.

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