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Three Swedish Canucks prospects thriving at World Juniors

Daniel Gee
Daniel Gee
|
Dec 31 2023, 7:48 pm
Three Swedish Canucks prospects thriving at World Juniors
IIHF

To say the World Juniors mean a great deal to the country of Sweden would be an understatement. Hosting the tournament for the first time since Malmö in 2014, they’re desperate to end a 12-year gold medal drought.

The good news is they’re a tournament favourite, a wagon per se. And if Sweden is a wagon, Vancouver Canucks prospects Jonathan Lekkerimäki, Tom Willander, and Elias Pettersson may make up a wheel… or two.

Sitting first in Group A before the medal round with three wins and a shootout loss, Canucks prospects have been instrumental to Sweden’s early tournament success, starting with Lekkerimäki’s offensive contributions.

Jonathan Lekkerimäki

After a disappointing showing at the World Juniors last year, Lekkerimäki entered this year’s tournament healthier and more experienced, rolling off a productive start in the Swedish Hockey League.

The former 15th overall pick has impacted the game with his shooting ability, scoring three goals across four games, including a mountain of dangerous shot attempts.

Lekkerimäki’s release has been all-world so far. We often see deceptive shooting that abuses angle changes to allude goaltenders. For Lekkerimäki, it’s the speed he’s able to execute his shot mechanically.

In almost an instant, the Canucks-winger prospect transfers his weight, creates an immense amount of downforce, and folds his wrist violently to launch pucks, all while deftly placing pucks through openings he’s identified.

Not only is Lekkerimäki scoring goals from a distance, but he’s also doing so in a projectable way. These aren’t outside shots or one-time attempts; his goals have mostly been created from rolling off the boards and operating in the middle of the ice.

This slot play is encouraging, as one of the valid criticisms of his game revolves around too much perimeter play. Working off the wall and moving the puck to move dangerous areas of the ice is key for any goal scorer, and these changes in habits represent a tangible step in his development.

While a lot of Lekkerimäki’s success comes with the man advantage, it’s clear that his conversion on the power play is paramount to Sweden’s success. Pucks run through him on the right hand circle and he’s the number one option on their first unit.

Even here, in a more open environment, he’s rolling off the boards to create a better shot, leveraging screens and layered chaos.

In an instant, the puck is on and off his stick off the pass reception, with a tricky placement five hole.

 

Lekkerimäki’s dangerous playmaking has also been a factor — an area of his game that is underrated in the public sphere and gives the 19-year-old legitimate dual-threat potential.

Attached at the hip with Noah Östlund, a teammate of the Canucks sharpshooter for the past six seasons, both former- Djurgårdens IF products have brought that chemistry to the world stage once again.

Lekkerimäki is working slip passes through defenders’ triangles; he’s entering the offensive zone through the middle, bumping passes back into space, and his shots are leading to goals for his teammates.

All of this wouldn’t be possible without Lekkerimäki’s developing physical skills. He’s a more nuanced puck protector, holding it in his hip pocket, all while shielding with his body. He’s engaged, follows through on the backcheck, and pushes intensity on the boards — all factors that helped him have a monster game against Germany.

Nevertheless, despite Lekkerimäki playing well, one can point to his 5-on-5 creation across all of his games. He’s lived up to his end of the bargain on the power play, but as games get tighter in the medal rounds, he will need to continue to be a factor at even strength, if not more than he already has.

Tom Willander

Physical, suffocating, and quietly impactful through the first four games of the tournament, Willander, with help from partner and St. Louis Blues’ prospect Theo Lindstein, has been a hurdle that opposing teams have yet to overcome.

With no goals conceded while on ice, part of Willander’s success comes from his stifling defence of the rush. At times, the recent 11th-overall pick has been aggressive, dropping puck carriers in the neutral zone with cataclysmic hits.

Other times, Willander is patient, keeping his gap consistent, matching attackers’ footwork, limiting access to the inside lane with his positioning, pressing at the right moments to force mistakes.

He’s been equally disruptive under sustained defensive zone pressure, blending together physical play and throughou stick work to punish puck carriers on the perimeter of the ice.

On the other side of the puck, Willander has made an impact. While he will probably never be an overwhelming presence in the offensive zone, his habits have been encouraging.

First, he’s making a concerted attempt to shoot from the top of the slot, even moving pucks off the boards to create more dangerous shooting attempts. Here is the game-winning goal Willander scored against Canada.

Second, Activation has been the other major factor, especially off-puck. He sneaks backdoor flashes his edges to get involved deeper in the offensive zone, nearly leading to a goal against Germany.

His game comes alive offensively when he starts to leverage his feet, so the more activation, the better for the Swedish defender.

Elias Pettersson

The elder statesman on Team Sweden, Pettersson’s hulking, disruptive play has been fun to watch. Already playing hard minutes against top opponents, the former third-round pick is part of Sweden’s matchup pair.

The 6-foot-4, 205-pound defenceman has discarded players all over the ice. If you try to bring the puck down his sideboards, you are likely to get lit up physically when he is on the ice.

Pettersson has had a few heroic moments, including this 3-on-1 defensive stop, undoubtedly changing the course of this game against Canada.

A bruiser at the net front, the left-shot defender has been a bully around the blue paint, but mistakes and missed activators have been his greatest issue. On all of Sweden’s goals conceded, Pettersson has struggled to switch off disruptive rebound attempts—part of it involves incorporating more scanning and pushing more proactive play, like boxing out secondary net drivers.

Even Pettersson is activating quite a bit on the attack — showing that it’s almost systematic on Sweden’s part. He won’t be much of an offensive factor, but getting more involved in the play can lead to creation, like the clip below.

Daniel GeeDaniel Gee
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