Top Canucks defense prospect honored by NCAA

Top Vancouver Canucks defense prospect Tom Willander has received his first honor of the 2024-25 season, having been named the NCAA's Hockey East Defender of the Week.

Willander, 19, has started his 2024-25 season in the NCAA on an outstanding five-game point streak for his Boston University. The Swede had an assist in Friday's 7-2 loss to the University of North Dakota on Friday before doubling back and scoring a power play goal in Saturday's 4-3 win over the same opponents.

Willander's power play goal, which ended up being the game-winning goal at the end of the day, was a beauty. Receiving the puck on a backhand pass from the near wall, Willander pivoted, adjusted his posture, and fired a perfectly placed wrist shot against his momentum through traffic, coolly slotting into the bottom right corner of the net.

Willander was drafted by the Canucks with the No. 11 overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft and is currently playing in his second full season in North America. In 38 games for Boston University last season, Willander scored four goals, 21 assists, and 25 points. With five points in five games so far this season, it looks like the 19-year-old has taken his offensive game to a new level early on.

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With the Canucks having defensemen like Carson Soucy, Vincent Desharnais, Noah Juulsen, and Erik Brannstrom all playing on short-term contracts, the hope and the expectation is that Willander can take another year or two to develop and eventually make his way to the NHL, adding another layer to a Canucks defense that lacks strong depth behind Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek.

Willander, a right-shot defenseman, remains on the Canucks' reserve list without an entry-level contract.