-He says he's heard from team sources that the Canucks will exercise their option for next season on Tocchet even if they can't agree on an extension. The Canucks consider Tocchet their coach for next season. Period.
-The Canucks are not only confident they can sign Tom Willander upon completion of his college playoff run, but that they can sign him under their preferred scenario where he doesn't go straight into the NHL lineup to burn a year of his entry level deal a la, say, Aidan McDonough, but signs a contract that starts in 25-26 so that he can sign an AHL PTO with Abbotsford and join them for the playoffs. This is best for the kid's development and I have seen many teams convince their top prospects to do this, but not the Canucks. Until now, apparently. This will be an interesting story to watch.
The sense I’ve got is that the club feels confident about getting the Willander deal done quickly after BU’s season ends and about having him join Abbotsford this season.
While there is some benefit for a young player in getting through their first NHL contract as quickly as possible, from a long-term development perspective, logging major minutes at the American League level while adapting to the demands and pace of professional hockey tends to be the most beneficial path. Especially given the blue-line dynamic the Canucks are currently juggling.
The Canucks are confident Willander could contribute usefully at the NHL level right away, if required. The problem is that the Canucks are in a tooth-and-nail race for the second wild-card spot in the West, and are already rotating a pair of young defenders in Victor Mancini and Elias Pettersson on the third pair. On most nights, Pettersson and Mancini are playing less than 15 minutes.
Willander, if he were to join the Canucks at the NHL level immediately, would be fighting to get into games and would be looking at 12-15 minutes per night.
It will be a different story if Willander starts his professional journey in the American League. He would play a top-four role, log major minutes and could compete in the Calder Cup playoffs. By leaps and bounds, he’d get more useful reps in Abbotsford.
The goal for both sides, after all, isn’t for Willander to make his NHL debut as soon as possible. It’s for Willander to position himself to be an NHL regular right from the get-go next season.
, the preference is to sign him to an AHL PTO so he can play a bunch of regular-season and playoff games down in Abby and then ideally start next season in Vancouver. It's far better for his development, but it would extend his ELC by an extra year. We'll see if he craves instant reward or not.
