Tom Willander is just four games into his NHL career, and he’s already showing the Vancouver Canucks coaching staff that he’s learning and progressing much quicker to the professional level than many initially believed.

Coming into training camp, Willander came as advertised — a smooth, agile skater. There were some concerns about him losing puck battles along the walls, but as a 20-year-old defenceman going up against bigger-framed NHL-calibre players, that was to be expected. But again, he’s young, and as he physically develops, so will that aspect of his game.

Willander began the season with the Abbotsford Canucks in the AHL. Over his first set of games against the Henderson Silver Knights, Willander still looked like he was trying to find his footing, oftentimes getting a little overzealous with the puck on their stick.

However, in the following series against the Laval Rocket, Willander seemed to simplify his game, stuck to his strengths, which helped propel him into more minutes. That quick learning — and a handful of injuries on Vancouver’s blueline — earned him his first NHL call-up.

As we covered in our “The Tape” series, Willander had some growing pains in his NHL debut, but he quickly nullified those errors in the following game. That improved play saw his ice time increase from 12:37 in his debut against the New York Rangers to 19:12 against the St. Louis Blues.

That’s a big transition for a young defenceman so quickly into his NHL career. So, what are the Canucks coaching staff seeing from Willander at the NHL level that they did not see during training camp and the preseason, which has earned him some runway in Vancouver:

“Well, I think one thing we saw early on with him was his gap [control],” Canucks assistant coach Brett McLean analyzed. “Sometimes he was getting beat wide, maybe judging NHL speed — which is normal, obviously, first time seeing it — but he seems to have done a very, very good job with that lately. So if he’s able to handle the rush well against, then he can obviously add to our rush offensively like we’ve seen.”

Elias Pettersson has often been paired with Willander, offering him some comfort on the backend, being with a fellow Swede with whom he shared he’s played in years past. Pettersson told CanucksArmy last week, ahead of Willander’s debut, that the most challenging part of transitioning to the NHL for a young defenceman was puck retrievals. Willander shared the sentiment, saying the European game allows defenders time to “cool down the game, but you have to make quicker plays here.”

But as he gets more reps and playing time in the NHL, Willander is seeing that progression in his game.

“I feel more comfortable with the puck generally,” Willander shared. “I think I fit into the way we play a little bit more. But I think confidence to just kind of move and use my skating more with and without the puck.”

He’s even receiving praise from Canucks captain and fellow defenceman, Quinn Hughes:

“He moves well,” Hughes said. “He’s got good skill, good reads. He’s so young, he’s 20. So he’ll continue to get better and better and more confident, and I’m looking forward to watching that.”

While it has been a relatively successful first stint for Willander in Vancouver, he’s still aware that there is still a long way to go in his development before he gets to become an everyday NHLer.

“I think positioning,” Willander told CanucksArmy when asked what areas he’s looking to improve. “Being in good positions, reading the play better — especially defensively — being on top of guys and containing guys better, with and without the puck. Getting in front of guys and making sure I’m in the right spot for rebounds and stuff like that. There’s a lot I could go on all day.”

McLean touched on what Willander has to do to become a guy that isn’t just here for an NHL call-up, and what the message is to a young defenceman so early on in his career:

“I think confidence is the big thing, and handling those downplays and down times, which are going to happen — all young players, especially young defencemen, those are going to happen. He’s had some really good games here. But you know, when those adversity-type plays happen, if he can still build off those, and then he becomes a guy that we can really start to rely on.

“Just be confident with it, continue to work on your gaps, continue to respect that speed. But when you get an opportunity, play with confidence, play with the puck, because we don’t just want you throwing the puck away. Use your assets like you would at any other level, but make sure that you’re aware and respect the speed that these guys come at you with.”

With the Canucks starting to get healthy again, we’ll see if Willander’s long for the NHL this season, or if he’s best suited to continue his development playing top-pairing minutes in Abbotsford. But while he’s in Vancouver, the Swedish defenceman is soaking up this opportunity to learn from some of the Canucks’ veteran defencemen.

“I’m trying to learn as much as possible,” Willander said. “I played a bit with Marcus [Pettersson], and I think he’s excellent when it comes to breaking pucks out, finding those little, short passes, through people to the open ice. And I think just being here, seeing that, it’s just good experience to kind of just get the mental reps in and just kind of learn the game.”

Willander is projected to slot into tonight’s lineup against the Chicago Blackhawks. This game will be his fifth in the NHL, matching his AHL total already. And there may be many more to come if Willander can continue to progress as quickly as he has from training camp now to the NHL.