The World Junior Championships are usually one of two things for players who participate – jubilation or heartbreak. For Vancouver Canucks prospect Tom Willander and the nation of Sweden, it was the latter – in more ways than one.

Failing to medal in the 2025 interaction of the annual under-20 tournament, a soft holding call meant Willander watched helplessly from the penalty box as Finland advanced to the Gold Medal game. The next day, Sweden fell in a tight contest with Czechia, decided by an agonizing 28-attempt shootout, failing to capture Bronze for the Tre Kronor.

Despite the brutal ending, Willander was a force, thrust into all situations for his nation. He was one of the ice-time leaders of the tournament, averaging 24:21 time on ice, reaching near the thirty-minute mark multiple times. Despite recording five points across seven games, he was one of Sweden’s better creators, and on top of that, his shutdown defending meant constant disruption when he was on the ice.

Sweden’s entire offence was built from defence out. Pucks were almost always funnelled low to high, with most of the attack rolling off the blue line. This meant their defensive core had to handle a heavy amount of puck touches across each game.

In Willander’s case, you could argue he was the Scandinavian nation’s general. Running the top power play unit, it was his job to find one-time pass opportunities, all while manoeuvring pressure, opening lanes, and releasing shots in the middle of the ice.

This utilization of Willander was deft, considering his skill set. Possessing a powerful, arms unlocked, down-force heavy wrist shot, the former first-round pick had the green light to shoot across this tournament, even if reining in his puck placements were hit-and-miss. Despite only scoring two goals off the point, he had multiple close calls, ringing iron twice, squeezing pucks through goals, and creating constant chaos in his opponent’s crease with low-placed, rebound-creating shooting.

To put his volume shooting in perspective, before the Bronze medal game, Willander had already racked up 43 shot attempts across six games, only 14 fewer attempts than Detroit’s Axel Sandin-Pellikka, who was expected to be the highest-frequency and one of the more dangerous shooters on the roster – Willander was definitely looking to set up that shot, too.

Constant passes into Sandin Pellikka’s wheelhouse meant Sweden was ripping volume shots from all over the ice. Redirection finds also littered his tape.

Beyond his shooting and playmaking, Willander’s ability to manipulate traffic was, by far, one of his more impactful habits across this tournament. The Swede puppeteered opponents through feints and deft playreading, blending his edges to cut laterally across the blueline. If he goaded a defender overcommitting into a blocking posture, he simply activated his edges and cut the other way.

Even more active pressure pushers found themselves staggered as the Canucks prospect took the defender one way just to power back into the original shooting lane. Don’t get it twisted – this isn’t Quinn Hughes – he’s the master, but similarly, Willander’s skating provides endless advantages off the line that should bear fruit at every level of hockey.

Willander also activated regularly across the tournament. At his worst, these activations led to hope passes (with low chances of connections) and turnovers on the perimeter as space shrank and defenders converged – he often lacked a plan while on the puck. At his best, he found inside seams in the slot or backdoor while working downhill.

Activation is one of the primary ways defenders can separate themselves offensively, so it’s great there is effort on Willander’s part. He will have to keep improving his handling and hunting the middle of the ice for it to become a legitimate strength going forward.

Despite the more prominent offensive role, Willander’s game has always been more centred in his own zone, where he excelled all tournament.

A strong, quick-to-close board sealer, Willander cut off down low rings and killed numerous perimeter attacks, isolating attackers with inescapable pins. He widens his base to avoid going off balance, traps feet and contains them until support arrives. He was overzealous for IIHF penalty standards at times, but that shouldn’t be an issue in the North American game. Considering his physical engagement and habits, his efforts should scale upwards.

Willander’s stick work was likely the most impactful area of his game in his own zone. Constantly probing, he tactically checked shot releases, disrupted passes by quickly closing lanes, and timed stick lifts and clamps all tournament. Owl-like scanning and mental mapping led to proactive reads and better decisions. These are positive disruptive habits for all levels.

This wasn’t an infallible performance – there were missed opportunities to be a more disruptive threat across each game of the World Junior Champions. The vital thing to consider is just how much he played – when a player reaches ice times past 25 minutes, there are just too many scenarios to defend successfully – when you are playing half a game, it gets to the point where he has to manage his game and pick his opportunities. What’s important is that his habits were consistent and translatable, all qualities the Canucks could eventually use on the right side.

Going back to Willander’s last season with Boston University, one of my biggest concerns centred around his ability to handle pressure on the forecheck.

When you consider his jump from the J20 Nationell hockey to the NCAA, it’s not a shock that he struggled to handle physical pressure on the endboards during his freshman season. Defenders who cannot successfully retrieve pucks simply do not have long careers in the NHL, so it’s positive that Willander’s work has vastly improved.

While he’s still straightforward and doesn’t go out of his way to manipulate forechecking pressure, he’s making quicker plays to supporters, often while pinned and even doubled down low. He leverages his edges to cutback and force resets in open ice, shaking off threats. He tends to slow down the attack, but he creates space and breaks out more successfully – necessary to operate in the NHL.

Willander’s breakouts have also taken a step forward. Last season, there were issues finding players in stride, weighting heavy passes that were often too hard to receive. In this tournament, he got in motion, sidestepped aggressive pressure, initiated give-and-go attacks, and stretched the puck more accurately than I have seen.

Just like in the offensive zone, there are also activation flashes here. He runs into the same issues on the puck – he’s too perimeter, lacks a plan, and his handling in motion remains a weakness. Nevertheless, improvements across transition game helps elevate fears of how Willander will handle the rigours of the NHL forecheck.

The totality of Willander’s game suggests he is ready for NHL action. His defensive habits are advanced, even separating when you consider the game of an average NHL defender. The case becomes even better when you combine his mobility, maturity, and developing offensive game. Nevertheless, there are still unknowns – the NHL is a whole different animal in size and pace that chews players and spits them out on the regular. While there is obvious clamouring from fans to get the young defender in the lineup sooner rather than later, rushing prospects is rarely the answer developmentally.

Still, fans should be excited about Willander’s projection. He’s added to his game, taken steps to clean up translation issues, and he’s performing at a high level. Nothing is ever certain, but a top-four, shutdown defender projection isn’t out of the question – considering his right-shot handedness, he is an asset any team would covet.