Tom Willander Scores Twice and Sawyer Mynio Gets Into Canada’s Lineup at World Junior Championships

Two Vancouver Canucks prospects played against each other in the early game while Sawyer Mynio debuted with Canada at day four of the World Junior Championships.

Sweden and Switzerland matched up in the early game that ended with a 7-5 win for Sweden.

Canucks 2023 first-round pick Tom Willander opened the scoring in the game with a seeing-eye wrist shot on the power play.

It was Willander’s first goal of the tournament and Sweden was off the races after the goal. The right-shot defenceman added another goal later in the game with a similar-looking wrist shot from the slot.

He added an assist later in the game to give Sweden a 6-1 lead at the second intermission.

Switzerland came out hot in the third period and we saw a 7-5 final.

Basile Sansonnens was selected in the seventh round of the most recent NHL Entry Draft by the Canucks, and he played 16:44 in the game.

Sansonnens had one shot on net in the loss. The 18-year-old is eligible to play in next year’s tournament and has been a steady piece of the Swiss defence through their first few games.

Willander is now up to five points (2g-3a) through three games at the WJC. Sweden is now 3-0 at the tournament and Willander is the second-highest scoring defenceman at the WJC.

Sawyer Mynio debuted with Canada after being scratched in their first two games. The Canucks’ third-round pick from 2023 played on Canada’s third pairing and looked poised and strong defensively.

Mynio picked up an assist on Canada’s 2-0 goal. He got the puck to his partner Caden Price, who caught a good bounce off the boards and found the back of the net.

Canada added a late empty-net goal and finished with a 3-0 win over Germany.

Monday’s schedule has no Canucks’ prospect in action as only two games will be played.

On New Year’s Eve, Willander and Sweden play Czechia at 2:00 p.m. PT, while Mynio and Canada face the USA at 5:00 p.m. PT.