Vancouver Canucks Top Prospect Tom Willander Lands Massive Opportunity and Joins New Team

It's been a bit of a tense time for Vancouver Canucks fans as it's been nearly two weeks since the end of Tom Willander's season and there has yet to be any movement on an entry-level contract, with the possibility he returns to school for a third year.

Earlier this week, it was reported that Willander has returned home to Sweden after finishing up his classes at Boston University for the year and will be joining up with the Men's National Team for exhibition games before the 2025 IIHF World Hockey Championship.

The Swedish Men's National Team has been preparing for the upcoming World Championship, which they'll co-host with Denmark, and there are lofty expectations for Tre Kronor as they look to medal in back-to-back years since winning gold in 2017 and 2018.

As Sweden awaits the arrival of star players such as Filip Forsberg, Rasmus Andersson and Mikael Backlund, the team took on their arch-rivals Finland in an exhibition game that began at 8:30 am PT.

About an hour before puck drop, Sweden released their lineup card for the game and it showed that Vancouver Canucks prospect Tom Willander has been put on the first pairing alongside former Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Gabriel Carlsson.

Meanwhile for the Finns, their roster for today's game against Sweden features a few names that might be recognizable to fans in North America - Vili Saarijarvi, Robin Salo and Lassi Thomson.

Today's game will be a big test for Tom Willander as it'll be his first game against professional players since the 2022-23 season when he suited up for two SHL games with Rogle BK.

With the 2025 IIHF World Hockey Championship set to get underway a little over two weeks, Tom Willander is going to have ample opportunity to prove that he's worthy of being named to Sweden's final roster.

Sweden will open up their 2025 IIHF World Hockey Championship schedule on opening day - Friday, May 9th, as they take on Slovakia.