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Two Vancouver Canucks Land on The NHL's Best U23 Players & Prospect Rankings
Photo credit: Sportsnet
The Athletic has released their mid-season edition of their Best U23 Players & Prospect Rankings, with a pair of Vancouver Canucks among those mentioned.
Across North America and Europe, we've hit the half-way mark of the season in a good majority of leagues and it's a good time to take a look at how certain players and prospects have been playing up to this point.
For the Vancouver Canucks, while it's been an up-and-down season, a number of their prospects are enjoying plenty of success throughout the 2024-25 campaign including Tom Willander and Jonathan Lekkerimaki.
Tom Willander & Jonathan Lekkerimaki land on The Athletic's Rankings
On Tuesday, Corey Pronman of The Athletic shared his rankings of the best players and prospects under the age of 23, with Swedish defenseman Tom Willander and forward Jonathan Lekkerimaki making appearances on the list.
Tom Willander comes in at 68th on Pronman's after a strong performance at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship in Ottawa where he helped Sweden to a fourth-place finish.
Pronman cites his Willander's skating as his biggest asset and says that he projects to be a top-four defenseman in the National Hockey League, which is music to the ears of Vancouver Canucks fans.
"Willander has been a very important player for Boston University and Sweden's U20 team this season, logging a lot of all-situation minutes. His skating is his main asset. He has a quick, powerful skating stride and can push the pace up ice with the puck. Willander's skating allows him to close on checks well and be a quality defender, especially when combined with some physicality in his game. Offensively, he's solid. He shows some blue-line poise and can make skilled plays with the puck and hit seams, although I don't see a true NHL power-play type. Willander projects as a two-way top-four defenseman." Pronman said.
As for Jonathan Lekkerimaki, who made his NHL debut back in November and scored his first goal in his second career game, he's been ranked 84th by Corey Pronman.
Lekkerimaki has been solid for the American Hockey League's Abbotsford Canucks this season, registering a team-leading 12 goals and five assists in 21 games, but it's clear that he's getting closer to a full-time role in the National Hockey League.
While Lekkerimaki may be on the NHL roster for the time being, it wouldn't be a shock to see him back in Abbotsford at some point this season for more seasoning ahead of a big year in 2025-26 where it's expected he'll take a sizeable step in his development.
Previously on Vancouver Hockey Daily
| POLL | ||
JANVIER 14 | 169 ANSWERS Two Vancouver Canucks Land on The NHL's Best U23 Players & Prospect Rankings Do you think should be ranked higher than 68th by The Athletic? | ||
| Yes, absolutely | 113 | 66.9 % |
| No, it's the right spot for him right now | 56 | 33.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
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