Last year, the Vancouver Canucks had a trio of prospects don the Tre Kronor for Team Sweden and walk away with a silver medal after falling to Team USA in the goal medal game. This year, they will only have one as Jonathan Lekkerimaki and Elias Pettersson have graduated to the American Hockey League (AHL) and are plying their trade for the Abbotsford Canucks. Now, only Tom Willander remains, but they will still have three prospects competing in the 2025 World Junior Championship, thanks to defencemen Sawyer Mynio and Basile Sansonnens making Team Canada and Team Switzerland respectively.
Team Sweden: Tom Willander
With Quinn Hughes dominating at the NHL level and carrying the team on his back game in and game out, Canucks fans are eagerly anticipating the arrival of Willander to give him some support. He is probably still a year or two away from that, but considering Hughes left the NCAA after his sophomore season, it may come sooner rather than later. Regardless, Team Sweden will have his services at the 2025 WJC, likely playing big minutes in the top four in concert with another top offensive defenceman in Detroit Red Wings prospect Axel Sandin Pellikka.
Related: Guide to the 2025 World Junior Championship
Selected six spots ahead of Sandin-Pellikka in 2023, Willander has been plying his trade in the NCAA with the Boston University Terriers the last two seasons. After playing second-fiddle to Lane Hutson last season, he is now relied upon as their top defender and is thriving to the tune of two goals and nine points in 16 games. He was also part of Sweden’s roster last year where he had a goal and three points in seven games.
While Willander does not have the same offensive chops as Sandin Pellikka, he can still move the puck with aplomb and create chances off the rush with his skating and superb first pass. He is also much better defensively than his Swedish counterpart and will likely become an elite two-way defenceman once he makes it to the NHL – which would be music to everyone’s ears considering the amount of work Hughes is doing on the blue line this season.
Team Canada: Sawyer Mynio
Mynio has emerged as an early steal from the 2023 NHL Draft. In his draft year, his ceiling was a modern-day defensive defenceman in the ilk of Jaccob Slavin/Chris Tanev. But now, after putting up 21 goals and 72 points in 81 games since then, that ceiling has risen to possibly a solid two-way defender capable of 40-50 points in his prime. If he can somehow hit that ceiling, the Canucks will be laughing all the way to the bank after selecting him in the third round at 89th overall.
Last season, Mynio had a career-high 16 goals and 53 points in 63 games, and he has started this season on fire as well with five goals and 19 points in 18 games. He is playing big minutes on a mediocre Seattle Thunderbirds team that has lost all of its stars and carrying the load much like Hughes is doing in Vancouver right now. He won’t nearly have that same role on Team Canada with the likes of Sam Dickinson, Tanner Molendyk, and Oliver Bonk on the blue line, but he will add some value with his strong two-way game and physicality.
Team Switzerland: Basile Sansonnens
The final prospect the Canucks will have competing at the 2025 WJC is Basile Sansonnens. The team’s final pick (221st overall) of the 2024 Draft and four selections away from being undrafted, the Swiss-born defenceman will likely be one of only four drafted prospects on Team Switzerland’s final roster joining fellow defender Leon Muggli (Washington Capitals), forward Rico Gredig (New York Rangers) and goaltender Christian Kirsch (San Jose Sharks).
After spending his draft year in Switzerland, Sansonnens made the trek overseas in 2024-25 and is now playing for the Rimouski Oceanic in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). He only has three assists in 25 games, but sports an impressive plus-6 in the plus/minus column in a league notoriously known for its offence. He won’t ever be a big producer on the stats sheet, but he could turn out to be a solid bottom-pairing defender who sees time on the penalty kill. Being one of the only drafted players on this Swiss team, he likely will play a big role on the blue line and could help them upset a few teams – as they usually do at these tournaments.
Willander & Mynio Have a Chance at Bringing Home a Medal
While Switzerland can never be counted out to surprise and enter the conversation, they have a low probability of earning a medal this year. However, Canada and Sweden both have the rosters to compete for gold. So, barring a Swiss upset, Mynio and Willander could be heading home with some hardware around their necks, Mynio for the first time, and Willander for the third time after grabbing silver at the 2024 WJC and gold at the 2023 U18 World Championship.
