On Sunday afternoon in Ottawa, Tom Willander had a breakout performance for Team Sweden at the 2025 World Junior Championship.
Willander had a steady start to the tournament, leading Sweden in ice time in each of their first two games against Slovakia and Kazakhstan but only picking up a single assist in each game despite lopsided scores in Sweden's favour. As much as his reliable defensive game is a big part of why the Vancouver Canucks drafted him eleventh overall in 2023, a little more offence is always reassuring when it comes to top prospects at the World Juniors.
It was gratifying for Canucks fans, then, that Willander had such a strong performance against Switzerland in his team's third game of the tournament. Willander scored two goals, both on the power play, and added an assist for a three-point game.
That brings Willander to five points in three games, which is good for sixth in scoring in the tournament — second among defencemen behind teammate Axel Sandin-Pellikka — though he'll likely move down that list as other teams finish their games on Sunday.
Willander opened the scoring for Sweden, sending a perfectly placed wrist shot into the top corner over the blocker of Elijah Neuenschwander.
After Sweden and Switzerland traded goals to make the score 2-1 for Sweden, Willander nearly scored another power play goal, hammering a one-timer from the point that pinged off the post.
Willander found the twine again in the second period. All four Swiss penalty killers got caught too low in the zone, giving Willander plenty of space above the faceoff circles. He loaded up his shot to pick a spot but the puck deflected off the stick of Swiss forward Loris Wey to change direction and give Christian Kirsch, who came in for Neuenschwander, no chance to make the stop.
Willander's technique on his wristshot is impeccable, giving him all kinds of velocity despite a deceptively quick release. The flex on his stick shows just how much torque he's applying to whip the puck forward.
Along with the two goals, Willander added a second assist on Sweden's 6-1 goal, setting up Sandin-Pellikka for a one-timer that squeaked through Kirsch and was banged in by Victor Eklund in the crease.
That goal ended up being the surprise game-winner, as Switzerland pushed back hard in the third period and took advantage of some undisciplined penalties by Sweden to score four goals. They simply ran out of time to complete the admittedly improbably comeback.
Sweden gave Switzerland seven power plays, with five of them coming in the third period. Willander was part of that parade to the penalty box, though in his case it was less a lack of discipline and more that he was a victim of a couple of bad calls. His first high-sticking penalty was just a stick lift where the Swiss player's own stick hit him in the face, while his second penalty was a holding call where he legally pinned his man to the boards in a battle and got whistled when his man fell down.
It should be noted that Willander was on the ice for three goals against — one a lucky deflection off a Swedish skate and two Swiss power play goals. That marred an otherwise great game for Willander, though he could really only be faulted on one of the goals against. His positioning was a little bit off on Switzerland's second goal, so he didn't take away a shooting lane to the far post.
Despite the goals against, this was a promising performance from Willander, showing the strength of his shot and how he uses that threat to open up lanes for teammates on the power play. He was also solid at 5-on-5, continuing to use his excellent mobility to close gaps and eliminate plays.
Basile Sansonnens continues to develop
Willander wasn't the only Canucks prospect on the ice in the game between Sweden and Switzerland. The Canucks' seventh-round pick from the 2024 draft, Basile Sansonnens, was patrolling the blue line for the Swiss side.
It's important to remember that Sansonnens just turned 18 a few months ago, as he was one of the younger players in the 2024 draft, and he'll still be eligible for next year's World Junior Championship. Combined with his lower draft position, the expectations are quite a bit lower for Sansonnens.
Still, he's shown well at this year's World Juniors. His smooth skating is still the biggest argument for his NHL future but he's taken massive strides in his ability to handle and move the puck over the past few months while playing top-pairing minutes for the Rimouski Oceanic in the QMJHL.
Sansonnens' passing was shocking when I watched him at the Canucks' prospect development camp in the summer but at the World Juniors, he's made crisp, tape-to-tape passes to break the puck out or move it around the offensive zone. That swift development is pretty impressive and speaks well to his coachability.
In fact, it's Sansonnens' play in the offensive zone that stood out against Sweden. He made some smart plays at the blue line, sent shots into traffic in front of the net looking for tips, and showed an awareness of when to activate into open space.
On one sequence, he jumped up the left side, looped behind the net, and took a hit to protect the puck along the boards to prolong a possession for Switzerland in the offensive zone — something they didn't have much of at 5-on-5. The sequence ended with a shot on goal — perhaps not the most dangerous shot but still an opportunity for a rebound and for Switzerland to continue to possess the puck down low.
Let's be clear, Sansonnens still has plenty of warts. There's a reason why he was a seventh-round pick as a mobile 6'4" defenceman, after all. He was victimized by the Swedish forecheck on the 2-1 goal, for instance, and was also on the penalty kill for three of Sweden's power play goals, which is less than ideal.
Some of Sansonnens' defensive flaws should improve with maturity and experience and there's a lot to like about the progression in his game, particularly in his puck skills, which were his biggest weakness. That kind of rapid improvement is exactly what you hope for from a seventh-round pick.
Sansonnens is still a longshot to make it to the NHL but he's taking steps in the right direction.
