Player Discussion Jake "Big Tuna" Virtanen | XVII Nikolaj Who...?

[DL44]

Still think Virtanen will be a stud for us.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

Prosthetic Conscience should be the creator of all threads

*bows in gratitude*

Sadly, I have to work.

Actually, I'm pretty sure a number of posters here want him to fail. A few just because they want everything to fail in the hopes that it will somehow finally rid us of Benning and Linden... a few because it furthers their "we picked the wrong guy" agenda and would make them look smart on the internet... and a few because of some unfathomable hatred of all things Virtanen.

I see a player that wasn't the best pick in hindsight... and probably wasn't the best pick at the time. He was arguably the 4th of in pack of 4 similarly ranked players (for the record, I wanted Ritchie). And since then he's constantly had about the worst decisions possible made for him (and by him)... until around Christmas last year.

At that point, the Canucks seemed to go back to the drawing board with him in an attempt to rebuild a decent player from scratch. He's got one last shot and I really hope he finally manages to put it all together. I think he would be a really fun player to have on our team, if only he can get his game back. And I'd really like to see some posters here eat some crow. But I'm officially not holding my breath for either Good Virtanen or people eating crow if he turns into Good Virtanen.

No matter what, he will never be Ehlers or Nylander... but he could still be Ritchie.

Disappointing to see someone else falling into the pit of thinking that people would rather be right than watch their team succeed.

Still think Virtanen will be a stud for us.

You go ahead and keep on thinking that. And you're down on Boeser?

 

[DL44]

You go ahead and keep on thinking that. And you're down on Boeser?

Yeah. I think Virtanen will have a better yr than Boeser this yr.... but depends on usage. I'll also wait to see what they both look like at camp before locking that prediction in.

As we seen with Granlund... usage is completely independent of the player skill .. and is either gifted or not gifted and any replacement level player will lead a team in goals if given enough ice time.

 

[BobbyJazzLegs]

Yeah. I think Virtanen will have a better yr than Boeser this yr.... but depends on usage. I'll also wait to see what they both look like at camp before locking that prediction in.

As we seen with Granlund... usage is completely independent of the player skill .. and is either gifted or not gifted and any replacement level player will lead a team in goals if given enough ice time.

 

[ProstheticConscience]

Yeah. I think Virtanen will have a better yr than Boeser this yr.... but depends on usage. I'll also wait to see what they both look like at camp before locking that prediction in.

As we seen with Granlund... usage is completely independent of the player skill .. and is either gifted or not gifted and any replacement level player will lead a team in goals if given enough ice time.

Wow. Okay, even with our vastly divergent views on this team and players, I'm really surprised by this. Just in the few games Boeser played in garbage time last season I saw more to be hopeful about than an entire year's worth of Comets' highlights for Virtanen.

As for player usage...if some semblance of sanity regarding icetime doesn't emerge under Green, then all bets are off until total regime change.

 

[geebaan]

Yeah. I think Virtanen will have a better yr than Boeser this yr.... but depends on usage. I'll also wait to see what they both look like at camp before locking that prediction in.

As we seen with Granlund... usage is completely independent of the player skill .. and is either gifted or not gifted and any replacement level player will lead a team in goals if given enough ice time.

And this is the year Sbisa "earns his contract" too. LOL

Come on man.

 

[thepuckmonster]

Yeah. I think Virtanen will have a better yr than Boeser this yr.... but depends on usage. I'll also wait to see what they both look like at camp before locking that prediction in.

As we seen with Granlund... usage is completely independent of the player skill .. and is either gifted or not gifted and any replacement level player will lead a team in goals if given enough ice time.

 

[Canucks LB]

I honestly hope that jake virtanens proves everybody including myself wrong and makes the roster on opening night, and has a solid third line career.

I will easily take that

 

[Huggy]

baertschi horvat virtanen

12 points vs edmonton preseason 2015

willie splits line up next game

Post Traumatic Willie Disorder

is all Jake had. his immune system wasnt up to par.

 

[LickTheEnvelope]

Yeah. I think Virtanen will have a better yr than Boeser this yr.... but depends on usage. I'll also wait to see what they both look like at camp before locking that prediction in.

As we seen with Granlund... usage is completely independent of the player skill .. and is either gifted or not gifted and any replacement level player will lead a team in goals if given enough ice time.

... wow that's a lot of confidence in Virtanen. We can only hope.

 

[y2kcanucks]

Still think Virtanen will be a stud for us.

You also thought Luca Sbisa was a good defenseman. I see a pattern here.

If Virtanen has another lousy season he's a bust.

 

[y2kcanucks]

I honestly hope that jake virtanens proves everybody including myself wrong and makes the roster on opening night, and has a solid third line career.

I will easily take that

A third line career, considering he was a 6th overall pick and considering who we passed up on, is clearly a blown pick.

 

[604]

A third line career, considering he was a 6th overall pick and considering who we passed up on, is clearly a blown pick.

It is what it is.

Starting to feel like it's time to move past it (I.e. know GMGB screwed up but not need to mention it all the time)

 

[Fatass]

A third line career, considering he was a 6th overall pick and considering who we passed up on, is clearly a blown pick.

If JV is a third line guy for us, then (likely) our top six guys are really good. Hansen was a third line guy, who could move up and down the line-up, while being super effective. JV is a bigger and better version of Hansen. JV scores 20+ this season

 

[WetcoastOrca]

At this point if he turns into a solid third line physical player I'd be ecstatic. But he still has a long way to go.
Looking at number 6 picks over time that's actually not even close to a bust in most years. What hurts though is the obvious choices before him that should have been taken. That was a pretty unique year in the case of players available at number 6. Other than MDC taken fifth and Virtanen all of the picks in the top 10 look good.

 

[deckercky]

If JV is a third line guy for us, then (likely) our top six guys are really good. Hansen was a third line guy, who could move up and down the line-up, while being super effective. JV is a bigger and better version of Hansen. JV scores 20+ this season

Toolwise, definitely. But Hansen was a very smart player. I have hope for Virtanen too. Based on what he showed in his year in the NHL, he definitely should be able to develop into a solid third liner. Based on his terrible year last year, it's optimistic to consider him a likely second liner.

 

[DL44]

You also thought Luca Sbisa was a good defenseman. I see a pattern here.

If Virtanen has another lousy season he's a bust.

More along the lines of he's not nearly as bad as people tried to make him out to be.. I think Vegas will love him.

Agree on Virtanen. Don't think there is a chance of it happening... but agree if it does.

And this got left hanging from another thread... what numbers are you basing your belief that Gaunce was our best defensive forward last year?

 

[rune74]

You also thought Luca Sbisa was a good defenseman. I see a pattern here.

If Virtanen has another lousy season he's a bust.

People honestly believe there isn't one poster in this section waiting to gleefully be right about this? Honestly?

 

[David Bruce Banner]

Disappointing to see someone else falling into the pit of thinking that people would rather be right than watch their team succeed.

Have you actually been reading these threads? I've seen numerous posts hoping Virtanen (and pretty much all our other prospects) fail, if it will rid us of Trevor and Jimbo. I've also seen plenty of posts that revel in the success of other picks because the guys they wanted are succeeding and the guy they always knew would fail is failing.
Now maybe it's all just internet hyperbole. Maybe I'm just conflating the opinions of one or two prolific posters with a more system-wide negativity towards the guy. Maybe I'm the one blowing things out of proportion, but it's definitely the impression I get when coming to these boards.

 

[Gaunce4gm]

On a positive note he looks to have been hitting the gym pretty hard this season compared to last season...

I mean I don't follow him around all day but SOMETHING has changed whether it's his workout intensity, frequency, diet, etc he visually looks a lot trimmer and more athletic.

We know that last year he was easily gassed and couldn't stay on the ice long enough to be effective so hopefully his cardio has improved.

Again we all know what he's capable of when he's motivated and given an opportunity (1st game back post WJCs vs Tampa Bay he was flying out there and was easily the most dangerous Canuck offensively the entire game)


He's a beautiful skater
He's got high end speed
Hard accurate shot
Loves hitting and playing physically

Average on Ice IQ (I don't think it's below average but I don't think it's above either)
Poor attitude going into last season (thought he'd be on the Canucks no matter what)
Poor conditioning and diet


You can't really change his on Ice IQ but you can make an argument that last year was a wake up call for him and his poor attitude, diet, and conditioning are fixable. If he's put in the work and actually earns it he's got the physical gifts to be a special player still.

 

[Siludin]

Virtanen is starting to feel like a free asset to me. There is absolutely no pressure on him this year. The Canucks have so many options at RW...

 

[DL44]

Virtanen is starting to feel like a free asset to me. There is absolutely no pressure on him this year. The Canucks have so many options at RW...

He's definitely going into camp as an afterthought...
All the focus will be on our shiny new toys at Youngstars and then Juolevi, Boeser, Goldobin, Rodin, Dahlin, etc in camp...
Jake is assumed to be AHL bound at this point.
If this isn't the most humble and driven offseason of his life.. there is no helping him.

 

[geebaan]

More along the lines of he's not nearly as bad as people tried to make him out to be.. I think Vegas will love him.

Agree on Virtanen. Don't think there is a chance of it happening... but agree if it does.

And this got left hanging from another thread... what numbers are you basing your belief that Gaunce was our best defensive forward last year?

That wasn't your direct quote, but whatever. Lets just say most people making lineups for the Knights in their HF section don't even have Sbisa in the top 6, let alone more important or better than that.

As for Virtanen, I get you want him to do well, but how on EARTH can you think he will do better than Boeser? Blind faith? There isn't a scrap of evidence to suggest that.

 

[Pavel96]

Still think Virtanen will be a stud for us.

One definition of a stud is: a large-headed piece of metal that pierces and projects from a surface, especially for decoration.

If you remove a few words the definition already sort of applies.

 

[y2kcanucks]

More along the lines of he's not nearly as bad as people tried to make him out to be.. I think Vegas will love him.

Agree on Virtanen. Don't think there is a chance of it happening... but agree if it does.

And this got left hanging from another thread... what numbers are you basing your belief that Gaunce was our best defensive forward last year?

His goal based metrics, his CA/60, his CARELTeam, his CF%RelTeam, and factoring in his deployment.