There will always be a link between Tom Willander and Axel Sandin-Pellikka. The two Swedish defencemen were both drafted in 2023 just six picks apart, one by the Vancouver Canucks and the other by the Detroit Red Wings.
The Canucks badly needed a right-shot defenceman in their prospect pool heading into the 2023 draft and both Willander and Sandin-Pellikka fit that particular bill. While many public scouting services viewed Sandin-Pellikka as the better prospect, the Canucks ultimately chose Willander — in fact, it seemed that Sandin-Pellikka wasn't even a consideration, as they and a couple of other prospects ahead of the draft.
Part of that is fit. Sandin-Pellikka is the type of smaller, offensive-minded defenceman that might have seemed redundant on a team that already has Quinn Hughes, while Willander is bigger, stronger defensively, and has a physical edge to his game.
When Sandin-Pellikka is putting up video game numbers at the World Junior Championship, however, it's hard to avoid wondering if the Canucks made the right choice.
Team Sweden faced Slovakia on Boxing Day in Canada's capital and, after a slow start, demolished their opponents, led by Sandin-Pellikka's four points, including a natural hat trick. The Swedish captain was a dynamo all game, using his elite mobility and skill to constantly create offence for Sweden, finishing the game with a whopping 11 shots on goal.
Let's keep in mind that Slovakia's no pushover. Last year, Slovakia finished second in Group B, winning 3 of their 4 games in the round robin and they have some intriguing prospects on their roster, including Miroslav Satan Jr. and Dalibor Dvorsky. This performance by Sandin-Pellikka strongly suggests that he could be one of the most exciting players to watch at this year's tournament.
Here's the thing: Willander also had a great game.
The Canucks prospect led Sweden in ice time, eating up nearly 25 minutes in all situations — almost four minutes more than Sandin-Pellikka. His outstanding mobility was on full display, as he closed quickly against opponents and repeatedly killed plays in the defensive zone. From there, he broke the puck out quickly and cleanly, spending a minimal amount of time in his own end of the ice.
Offensively, Willander activated smartly from the point to create scoring chances for himself and his teammates, including a fantastic sequence in the second period where he stepped around his man and sent a high-danger pass to Zeb Forsfjall in the slot that just barely failed to connect before again jumping up the left side to get a dangerous chance on net.
On top of that, Willander quarterbacked Sweden's top power play unit from the point, showing improved stickhandling and passing compared to when he was drafted. His lone point came on the power play after setting up Sandin-Pellikka for a slap-pass that didn't connect before Sandin-Pellikka got the puck back again and scored.
What seems clear from this first game of the tournament is that while Sandin-Pellikka is going to be the engine driving Sweden's offence in this tournament, Willander is going to be the one driving a lot of their puck possession and playing in a shutdown role on what is ostensibly the second pairing but is more likely to get top pairing ice time.
As much as Sandin-Pellikka is going to grab the headlines for his performance against Slovakia, Willander's impact on that game should not be discounted.
