Canucks prospects: Willander figuring out effectively at BU; Brzustewicz goes brrr

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It’s the most recent version of the prospects tracker, the place we tally up the efforts of the Vancouver Canucks’ highest profile prospects:

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Tom Willander

School freshman aren’t purported to be this mature.

They’re additionally not anticipated to excel taking part in for an NCAA powerhouse of their first season of North American hockey.

However Canucks 2023 first-rounder Tom Willander isn’t your common first-year scholar at Boston College.

Whereas others experience breaking away from their dad and mom’ grasp, Willander is busy executing breakout passes.

Whereas others take photographs on the newest frat get together, Willander is wristing in game-winners in opposition to a Prime-10 rival.

And whereas others shake like a leaf presenting to sleepy lecture rooms, the 18-year-old Swede is holding courtroom in post-game scrums, talking eloquently in a international language.

“I normally don’t assume an excessive amount of about being a freshman,” Willander stated with a smile, after scoring the winner because the No. 8 Terriers beat No. 9 Maine 3-2 on Friday at an electrical Agganis Enviornment in Boston. “I’ve are available in right here, been greeted effectively and really feel like I’m within the staff like all people else.

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“I simply really feel we’re taking part in a very easy recreation. I really feel like everybody’s chipping in after we’re on the man-advantage there and I simply assume everybody’s bringing what they’re purported to to the desk.”

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What Willander is bringing to the BU blue-line is strictly what the Canucks envisioned when deciding on the right-shot defender with the eleventh general choose this previous summer season.

A superb skater to start with, the 6-foot-1, 179-pound blueliner is turning into a breakout machine, one thing head coach and former NHLer Jay Pandolfo has been specializing in in apply.

“We’ve been working so much on our breakouts. Simply having good breakouts is what will get us within the offensive zone and creates alternatives,” stated Willander. “It’s creating offence from defence — I feel we had undoubtedly a bunch of far performs that ended up being harmful on the opposite finish. Hope to maintain that going.”

After registering one help in his first seven video games, Willander has three in his final three video games, together with a beautiful long-bomb go throughout the impartial zone and onto the tape of streaking ahead Scott Lachance for his first NCAA objective to place the Terriers up 3-1 in Saturday’s 5-4 win to finish the weekend sweep over the Black Bears.

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Willander, who had good chemistry with fellow Canucks prospect Aidan Celebrini (Rd. 6, 2023) on the third defensive pairing to start the season, has been elevated to the second-pair to play with Carolina Hurricanes 2019 4th-rounder Cade Webber, a 22-year-old senior whose defensive acumen permits Willander to wheel and deal extra usually.

“Actually strong. I at all times know what to anticipate from him and from that predictability I discover it’s simpler to do what I do finest, so I feel it’s good.”

Whereas Willander has proven to be adept at dealing with the defensive rigours of NCAA hockey up to now — together with his positioning and stick-checking protruding up to now — an underrated a part of Willander’s recreation is his willingness to place his physique on the road on any given evening.

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“Blocking photographs, I feel that’s one of the necessary parts,” stated Willander. “I simply really feel like having the ability to sacrifice your physique is one thing that simply improves the vitality of the staff and in addition one thing that retains the puck out of the web.”

Willander had two blocked photographs on Friday and one other one on Saturday.

As a staff, Pandolfo stated the Terriers — who had been ranked No. 1 within the nation earlier than stumbling out of the gate and discovering their recreation the previous couple of weeks — have been higher defensively as a result of everyone seems to be shopping for in. Pandolfo additionally stated simplifying the ability play — which scored all three targets in Friday’s 3-2 win — has been a key to their current success.

Willander, who’s quarterbacking the second unit, scored the third objective on Friday on a well-placed wrist-shot from the purpose.

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“I feel we’re simply extra direct on the ability play. We’ve form of despatched that message firstly of the 12 months and tonight it paid off,” stated Pandolfo. “It was good to see the opposite unit too, Tom had an excellent shot and we had an excellent display in entrance.”

Willander was named the participant of the sport for his efforts.

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With Willander’s optimistic play this season — and the ascendant video games of defensive prospects Hunter Brzustewicz (Rd. 3, 2023) and Kirill Kudryavtsev (Rd. 7, 2022), amongst a pair others in Abbotsford — blue-line depth will not be the organizational sore spot it as soon as was. Nevertheless it’ll take time, with probably the most promising of the bunch nonetheless at the very least a pair years away.

Willander has two targets, 5 assists and a plus-10 ranking in 11 video games this season.

Hunter Brzustewicz

It’s turning into a narrative when Hunter Brzustewicz’s title isn’t on the scoresheet.

That’s as a result of it hardly ever occurs for the dynamic left-shot blueliner.

Brzustewicz, 18, has performed in 21 video games for the red-hot Kitchener Rangers this season.

He has factors in all however two of them.

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The 6-foot, 190-pound D-man simply went one other week with factors in all three video games — two assists in a 5-3 win over Kudryavtsev’s Soo Greyhounds final Sunday; a objective and two assists in a 9-2 downing of the Windsor Spitfires on Friday; and one help in a 6-3 win over the identical Spitfires on Saturday.

It’s like he’s printing cash each time he touches the puck this season.

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Add all of it up and Brzustewicz is second in league scoring with 36 factors in 21 video games and his 30 assists are tops within the junior circuit.

It’s fairly clear the Canucks’ Seventy fifth-overall choose can be taken within the first spherical if the 2023 NHL draft was redone.

“I used to be affected person, nevertheless it felt like an extended wait,” Brzustewicz instructed CHL.ca’s Evan Doerfler in a participant profile earlier this week. “It was anxious main as much as it simply being there all week, particularly the day of. It was a sigh of reduction when my title received referred to as and I used to be extraordinarily joyful to be chosen by the Vancouver Canucks.”

Brzustewicz, a Washington, Michigan native, revealed that he had really dedicated to play for the College of Michigan on the age of 13, solely to de-commit when the Rangers confirmed curiosity and play two seasons with the U.S. Nationwide Growth Workforce earlier than becoming a member of the OHL’s Blueshirts.

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Brzustewicz stated being on the Canucks’ improvement camp this previous summer season helped his recreation immensely.

“Hunter is calm, affected person, poised with the puck,” stated Canucks participant improvement coach Mike Komisarek. “He’s capable of begin the transition recreation with a quick-strike go, or maintain onto it and let passing lanes open up and discover the correct possibility, so he’s doing a number of good issues we’re enthusiastic about proper now.”

Defensively, Brzustewicz has solely had two video games this season during which he was a minus. He’s honing in on utilizing his physique to dislodge pucks and regain possession, and taking delight on clearing out the entrance of his web.

“He’s including layers to his recreation,” stated Komisarek.

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Brzustewicz is predicted to compete for a spot on Workforce USA’s blue-line on the World Junior match which begins on Boxing Day in Sweden.

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Nikita Tolopilo

Now that’s the way you bounce again.

After shedding three straight behind an injury-riddled Abbotsford Canucks staff a pair weeks again, backup goaltender Nikita Tolopilo was given the beginning on Saturday afternoon in opposition to the Silver Knights and stopped 31-of-33 photographs — in addition to all 4 shootout makes an attempt — to steer the Canucks to a 3-2 shootout win in Henderson, Nevada.

The 23-year-old Belarusian was named the sport’s first star for his efforts.

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Tolopilo took the reins from starter Arturs Silovs for this one, after Silovs earned his fourth-straight win in Thursday’s 3-2 additional time win over the identical Silver Knights. Silovs, 22, has a 2.58 goals-against-average, a .908 save proportion and is 7-1-1 on the season.

Tolopilo, in the meantime, is 3-3 with a .902 save proportion and a 3.30 GAA — an inflated quantity after giving up 18 targets in a tough three recreation stretch in late October-early November.

However that was then and that is now, and the Canucks are at full energy after welcoming Vasily Podkolzin and Chase Wouters again from damage, with Jack Studnicka becoming a member of the group earlier this week after clearing waivers and Linus Karlsson again within the fold after a one-game call-up to the NHL, the place he made his NHL debut in Calgary, going a plus-1 and getting three photographs on objective in over 11 minutes of ice time.

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Podkolzin had six photographs on objective in his return on Thursday, whereas Studnicka bagged the additional time winner on an excellent solo effort.

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In the meantime, the duo of Max Sasson and Aatu Raty have been the offensive drivers for Abbotsford not too long ago, with the linemates accounting for a mixed eight factors (5G, 3A) within the final three video games.

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Abbotsford has gained 5 straight video games and is 10-4-1, good for second within the AHL’s 10-team Pacific Division. The Canucks subsequent play the division-leader Wranglers in Calgary on Saturday and Sunday.

Elsewhere: Left-shot defenceman Kirill Kudryavtsev (Rd. 7, 2022) continues to impress for the Soo Greyhounds, extending his factors streak to 4 video games this previous week with 4 assists in two video games. The 19-year-old two-way D-man even went a plus-2 final Sunday in opposition to Brzustewicz and the high-powered Rangers.

And ahead Danila Klimovich (Rd. 2, 2021) was again within the Abbotsford lineup on Thursday, registering an help after neatly breaking apart a play on the opposing blue-line, giving the puck to linemate Nils Aman going straight to the web as Aman shot the puck into the objective.

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Klimovich, nevertheless, didn’t play on Saturday, however it’s unclear if he was scratched since he took a puck to the face on Thursday and needed to go to the dressing room for repairs. The proficient Belarusian was sat by head coach Jeremy Colliton early within the season for a recreation then missed a while as a result of damage. He has two assists and a plus-3 ranking in 5 video games this season.

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