YearoftheNuck

Josh Bloom has got some skills. And at 1:52 into the clip, that check by Willander which led to the Bloom goal, was unreal. Willander was absolutely flying and did a slick little stick lift which caused the turnover.

Hell yeah, bring the big guy over!

I’m excited to hopefully see some more Willander highlights.

Yeah I feel like they did Larkin dirty… almost immediately after resigned with them they began trading away talent, namely Hronek.

I fricken love this kid! He’s so well spoken, thoughtful, and confident. Listening to this interview you can tell that he’s got a great hockey mind.

I like this D a lot. Solid blend and skill, strength, offensive D and Defensive D. Hughes - Cole Soucy - Hronek Hirose - Myers Wolanin - Johanssen Brisebois - McWard Rathbone - Juulsen We’ve got some good depth now too.

A few things jump out at me there that I really like: Penalty killer Speedy Defensive-minded Shutdown Centre This is what our bottom six needs in a bad way. Our team defensive play has been a week spot for years. Hopefully Blueger can help with that.

A fellow Latvian mate for Silovs to hang with.

I’m happy for the guy!

Sing Foote so that between he and his dad we can have a pair of feet (dad joke lol)

Consolidated rankings had him at 53. That’s awesome!

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/526088/hunter-brzustewicz

I’m hoping for some shutdown D men and speedy C men with our day 2 picks.

During the U18s I kept watching the Sweden games to get a good look at ASP because I figured he’d be who our scouts would target. However I kept finding myself watching Willander more and more, to the point where I was annoyed with him because he was distracting me from scouting out ASP lol! No word of a lie, by the last two games Sweden played I starting thinking that maybe this Willander guy should be the one we’re targeting. He perfectly fits our needs and his build and game seemed just a bit more projectable to the NHL than ASP. Needless to say I’m very stoked by this pick.

If we don’t pick Willander I just hope that Detroit doesn’t manage to take him with the NYI pick. He and Seider could be such a deadly one two punch for years to come, and I could definitely see Stevie Y chose him.

This has been such a wild year of prospect tracking. The list of prospects that I personally really like has grow so much through the year that it’s going to be painful to watch these guys get picked by other teams lol. Moore - Early in the year I tagged him as perfect fit for our team. A centre who could eventually enable Miller to move to the wing. And then when we traded Bo, the need for a young C just grew exponentially. Reinbacher- Halfway through the year I was all aboard the Reinbacher train and devoured every bit of footage I could find on the guy. I’ve never left that train. Barlow - After the CHL top prospects game I was completely sold on Barlow. This is the type of player that helps teams win championships. ASP and Willander - After watching the U18s I was so impressed with both of these guys. I kept watching for ASP, and rightfully so as the guy is so slick, but my eyes kept veering to Willander as well, to the point where I found myself conflicted which of these two I’d rather the Canucks target. I’m still torn. Dvorsky - Also after watching the U18s I was also insanely impressed by Dvorsky. Actually I think the correct word might just be enamoured. He and Petey down the middle would be electric. Simashev and Danielson - Honestly I haven’t seen much of these two at all, but from reading the posts on here, as well as many articles and scouting reports, these two are both sounding like solid pickups to say the least. I would be ecstatic if we drafted any of the guys I’ve mentioned above, and then there’s a whole list of players I didn’t even mention that I would be thrilled with as well (I’m not going to both naming the big 5, but if somehow Leonard fell to us that would be unreal, and Benson could be a beauty too, not to mention the big skilled Wood). This year’s draft is stacked.

I’m really curious who the Canucks covet because this is a few times now that they’ve mentioned hopefully trading up. I’m sure Allvin loves Carlsson but I don’t think he’s seriously considering giving up the assets required to move into a top three spot. More realistically we would move up a few spots to the 7-10 range? There’s so many good players in the top of this draft that it aches my mind to try to figure out who they’re targeting there.

Unfortunately I just can’t see him falling out of the top ten. I would be shocked if a team like St Louis passed on him, then again crazier things have happened (like the Redwings passing on the University of Michigan phenom Quinn Hughes lol). I’m really liking three of the top RHD (Reinbacher, Sandin-Pellika, and Willander), but I would still take Leonard over any of them. Leonard is an explosive, power forward stud!

This is a good write up on Willander here by Chris Peters: https://www.flohockey.tv/rankings/8222664-2023-nhl-draft-rankings-chris-peters/45822-2023-nhl-draft-rankings-connor-bedard-adam-fantilli-top-flohockeys-final-list 17. Tom Willander, D, Rogle U20 (Sweden U20) A rare European player that is bound for NCAA hockey, Willander played exclusively at the U20 level in Sweden this year. While he did not showcase a particularly high-end offensive toolkit, he is a tremendous skater and high-end defender. Willander can be physical and has a good defensive stick. Additionally, his footwork is such that he’s difficult to beat wide. He can close gaps quickly and also has good recovery speed. Meanwhile, he can get pucks up ice and makes good reads both offensively and defensively. Just don’t look for Willander to be a major point producer from the back end. He still does more than enough to garner a top-four slot down the line

My gut and logic are both telling me that Willander will be our guy. And after watching him play a lot during the U18 tourney I’d be all for it. I feel like he’s exactly the type of player we need; a solid and steady RHD that can skate well.

I have basically the identical list, only on my list I swap spots with Wood and Benson. I hear what you’re saying about Wood and there’s definitely a lot to like there. Also I believe I had Sale in the 11 spot and Moore just below him.

I agree with all of these. However Dvorsky and Reinbacher are basically a tie for me. I know that’s a total cop out lol, but I see so much upside in both players and they both address our biggest needs. I really, really like Willander too, but I just think ASP has that star factor, whereas Willander will likely be solid as hell, but probably not quite the star that ASP will be.

Linden brought us within one goal of being champs.

I said it before, and I’ll probably say it a hundred times more lol, to me Silovs has the look of a consummate pro. His movements, his positioning, and his reflexes, all look to me like that of a special talent. I’m by no means a goalie coach or anything, but I played goalie all my life and from early on I’ve seen something special in Silovs. He doesn’t look like one of those guys that just got hot for a bit, like Martin in last year’s season, rather Silovs looks like he can have sustainable success. I think we’re all seeing now why Ian Clark was slamming the draft table demanding that we pick this guy

Absolutely we would have to wait for our turn to pick to decide if we want to do this trade. I think there’s a good chance that a big name will fall in this loaded draft. I could see a team being mesmerized by a big player like Wood (and rightfully so) and possibly causing a little guy like Benson to fall to us. If Benson is there, my goodness we take him and run. A potential franchise player right there.