not judging his ceiling, but making an educated guess based on his juniors numbers and his preseason and regulsr season games with the panthers. noone expected him to score 7 goals in 7 games but I did expect something like 2G and 1 assist with a not -6. that would've been nice. he showed almost no flashes of brilliance which is what good players do early when first getting their shot. they make some great moves and some dumb ones and the dumb ones get them sent down to work on things and make less of them. from him I really only saw dumb moves. he did nothing that stood out at all and made me think well yea he did a few dumb things but man can he move/shoot/pass/dangle. he was simply nothing. and his numbers really aren't crazy impressive in juniors. I picture him having a rough year with the steelheads this year and then fading into obscurity. we should trade him now before that happens. we have 2 amazing fwds coming up anyway. shame we don't have a pure goal scorer but he wont be one and if he is, his liabilities will make him not worth it.
God. This board. He was relatively quiet but you must have must those games where he dangled around people and showed of sole incredible hands.
this threads about hepo the beast.
Well Jake Virtanen is just a dumb hockey player. Tippett just needs to pick his spots better.
The kid has a shot to make the NHL but only as a top 6, which makes it more difficult. They talk about all this speed he has but to me he's a bit above average in the speed department. I didn't see him blowing around defensemen like Tro (who has excellent speed but not elite). He is like Barkov in that he doesn't like contact which in the sport you better have quite a few assets to compensate.
How does Barkov not like contact? Just because he doesn’t rag doll people doesn’t mean he can’t power through them. Jeez.The kid has a shot to make the NHL but only as a top 6, which makes it more difficult. They talk about all this speed he has but to me he's a bit above average in the speed department. I didn't see him blowing around defensemen like Tro (who has excellent speed but not elite). He is like Barkov in that he doesn't like contact which in the sport you better have quite a few assets to compensate.
Virtanen wasn't even really a PWF, he was just ahead in physical development that it gave him an edge over his peers and he relied on that one advantage too much at the junior level, to a point where he mismanaged the development of other areas in his game. Then when he made it to the show, the trick didn't work anymore against NHL players and he wasn't good enough in other areas to compensate.
The guy is a napkin. When have you ever seen him follow through on a solid hit where he knocks someone to the ice? How many times have we seen the other player initiate contact and Barky bounce to the ice like a 160 lb 17 yr old? Just because someone can power thru players doesn't mean they like contact. He has the strength and size to get to the net but he backs off a hard hit as he doesn't want to make someone mad. Why, because he's afraid he might have to fight.
I didn’t even read your post after napkin. Crosby must be a napkin too.The guy is a napkin. When have you ever seen him follow through on a solid hit where he knocks someone to the ice? How many times have we seen the other player initiate contact and Barky bounce to the ice like a 160 lb 17 yr old? Just because someone can power thru players doesn't mean they like contact. He has the strength and size to get to the net but he backs off a hard hit as he doesn't want to make someone mad. Why, because he's afraid he might have to fight.
Nick is another guy who doesn't like hard contact. He's big and strong and can use his body to protect the puck and get to the net but he avoids hard hits most of the time. To Nicks credit he will drop the mitts and at least won't turtle up in most instances. Although the look on Nicks face when Barkov was popped over the boards was one of terror as he flinched big time rather than try to protect Barkov from injury. Barky got in scrum with 185 lb Kucherov and talk about being rag dolled. The guy needs to take some boxing lessons and learn to protect himself and stand up to guys. Otherwise players are going to continue to bully him.
This proves that you're just throwing crap at the wall to see what might stick, you don't even watch the games.The guy is a napkin. When have you ever seen him follow through on a solid hit where he knocks someone to the ice? How many times have we seen the other player initiate contact and Barky bounce to the ice like a 160 lb 17 yr old? Just because someone can power thru players doesn't mean they like contact. He has the strength and size to get to the net but he backs off a hard hit as he doesn't want to make someone mad. Why, because he's afraid he might have to fight.
Nick is another guy who doesn't like hard contact. He's big and strong and can use his body to protect the puck and get to the net but he avoids hard hits most of the time. To Nicks credit he will drop the mitts and at least won't turtle up in most instances. Although the look on Nicks face when Barkov was popped over the boards was one of terror as he flinched big time rather than try to protect Barkov from injury. Barky got in scrum with 185 lb Kucherov and talk about being rag dolled. The guy needs to take some boxing lessons and learn to protect himself and stand up to guys. Otherwise players are going to continue to bully him.
