Willander could play two to three games with the Vancouver Canucks this season
Vancouver Canucks fans will have to wait before seeing top prospect Tom Willander join the organization.
Willander and his Boston University Terriers won two games on the weekend to advance to the Frozen Four. While this is good news for the young defenceman’s college team, it does delay his professional debut.
If his team had lost, Willander would’ve been free to sign with the Canucks as soon as this past weekend. Instead, the Terriers kept their season alive and will now play until at least April 10 and, at the latest, April 12.
The Terriers face off against Penn State in the second semi-final on April 10. If they win, they’ll play the winner of Western Michigan and Denver in the National Championship on April 12. While Canucks fans will want to see him succeed, the moment he loses, he is eligible to join the pro ranks.
The Canucks are free to sign Willander the moment his NCAA career finishes. He is expected to make the jump to the professional level after this season, in which he scored 23 points in 37 games.
The Canucks have games scheduled for April 12, 14, and 16. If his team loses in the semi-final, Willander could hypothetically play in all three of those games. If he plays in the National Championship, he could still participate in the final two.
It will be interesting to see if Willander is inserted directly into the Canucks NHL lineup or if they opt to have him start in the minors instead. That decision will likely depend heavily on the Canucks’ place in the standings when they sign the smooth-skating right-handed defenceman.
If Willander does play any NHL games, that will burn a season off his entry-level contract. If the Canucks opt to keep him in the AHL this year — a very real possibility considering those final games could have massive implications on the team’s playoff hopes — then this season will not count on his contract.
Willander projects to be a steady two-way defenceman at the NHL level. He’s a strong skater who is defensively responsible and has played on both special teams units at Boston. He’s the Canucks most recent first-round pick, and if he can develop into a true top-four defenceman, that’ll be huge for the franchise.