It was an exciting rookie season for Tom Willander.
Having initially come into the season not expecting to play most of the year with the Vancouver Canucks, Willander has grasped the opportunity to play important minutes at the NHL level, culminating in a five-goal, 16-assist campaign for the rookie defenceman.
“I don’t think anyone else was really expecting it to be that fast, and it’s been a lot of fun though, and a great learning experience,” Willander said.
Willander believes that his game has grown significantly, even compared to the first half of the season, as he slowly acclimated to the speed, strength, and skill of the NHL.
“I wasn’t really sure what to expect coming in. It was hard to model your summer training for the NHL, not knowing what the NHL was like,” Willander said. “But I think that’s one of the best things going into this summer, is that I have more of an idea of what works and what doesn’t, [and] what needs to be worked on.”
This offseason will be an important one for Willander, as he hopes to continue building upon the skills that he picked up throughout his rookie year. Willander has already reflected on many aspects of his game and is excited to start putting in the work to improve in those areas.
“I think I have a lot of areas that I lack in, but I can see them a lot more clearly than I could before. I want to get back to working as soon as possible and just start working through all these things, so I’m in a way better spot when starting next season,” Willander said.
One of Willander’s biggest takeaways from this season was how much more taxing playing in the NHL and being prepared to play in the NHL was. It all served as one of the biggest indicators of his growth over the past season, as he felt himself becoming accustomed to this new level, while also serving as a reminder of the road ahead.
“You had to work a lot harder with the time that you spend on the sheet, 20 minutes here is unlike 20 minutes anywhere else that I’ve played,” Willander said. “I don’t think at the beginning of the season I would have been able to do that at all, so I still see a lot of improvement in that area of my game, but at the same time I still believe I have a long way to go to be truly efficient.”
To reach this next level of efficiency, Willander will be focusing on conditioning this summer, which includes getting stronger across the board, so that his stamina increases and he can continue playing his best possible game for longer and better compete with other NHL players.
“Many of the times I get in trouble is when I’m gassed, and don’t really have the legs to work the way I would want to, so getting better on that front is going to be huge for me,” Willander said. “Getting stronger around the core and legs is going to help a lot as well. Being stronger in the corners and being able to knock guys off the puck easier [is] going to be important.”
By taking these conditioning steps to be better physically equipped for the NHL, Willander believes he will feel more comfortable on the ice and in his overall skills.
“Definitely want to keep going in the direction of being more confident on the ice, and being able to use my abilities more,” Willander said.
Listen to this and much more as Willander joins Chris Faber on the latest episode of the Canucks Insider Podcast.
