Canucks off-season: Five things about the Tom Willander stalemate
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Willander instead is one of eight rearguards with the Swedish team currently preparing for the world championships, which kick off May 9 in Willander's hometown of Stockholm.
That Swedish rearguard crew also includes Canucks defenceman Marcus Pettersson. That roster could change as teams are knocked out of the NHL playoffs.
The next pressure point for Willander and the Canucks would then seem to be Canucks developmental camp, which would run sometime in the days following the June 27-28 NHL Draft.
Would Willander attend if he doesn't have a contract? Todd Diamond, who's Willander's adviser, was asked by text when they'd decide on that and Diamond replied: 'Plenty of time for that. He's focused right now on the next three games of the Euro tour before the world championships.'
Brock Boeser and Quinn Hughes signed on with the Canucks immediately after their second NCAA seasons. Boeser got nine games and Hughes got five games with Vancouver at the tail end of those years.
Willander's Terriers had a better campaign than either of Boeser's or Hughes' second-year collegiate teams, getting all the way to the NCAA Frozen Four national championship game on April 12, where they fell 6-2 to Western Michigan.
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