Tv9924
Registered User
In his prime, I can definitely see a 1st line LW/RWer. For most of his career, I see a solid 2nd liner that can fill in the first line if need be.
Kind of like Wayne Simmonds?
In his prime, I can definitely see a 1st line LW/RWer. For most of his career, I see a solid 2nd liner that can fill in the first line if need be.
Virtanen's skating is what is going to help him excel in the NHL. Acceleration, and speed, already a massive advantage for him. Just needs to fill out his frame. He's already flattening opposing players as is too.
He's already pretty filled out at around 210 lbs.
Can I get an unbiased opinion from non Canucks fans on his play last night? I'm a HUGE Virtanen fan and I love the kid and pick but I felt last night he looked so lost out there, missing passes and stick handling into nowhere, taking low percentage shots. Outside of his assist and that chance I. The first where he got stoned by Demko, I was pulling my hair out with his play...
However, when I brought this up on the Canucks board I got scorched for it..
Am I being too critical or did others feel the same way? As I said, I love the kid and think he's a beast but I know Canucks fans have a tendency to sugarcoat things due to our starvation for a star prospect for once and I want to know if anyone else saw what I saw last night
I thought Virtanen had a bit of a disappointing tournament. With all the talent that this kid has he should have shown a bit more this tournament. His shoulder may have recovered but I don't think he has gotten his form back. I haven't seen a lot of him this year outside the tournament but I think he should spend one more year in junior and come back next year stronger and better for next year's WJC.
Virtanen needs to round out his game quite a bit to succeed at the NHL level, in my view. As others have pointed out he's really good when coming down the wing on the rush, but seems a bit lost in the offensive zone when his line is on the cycle. NHL-caliber defencemen should be able to defend against him coming down the boards quite easily, especially when they know its coming. He hasn't seemed to really develop the playmaking skills to keep them honest either. I was also unimpressed with his play in the neutral zone (aside from the aformentioned rushes and the nice little play to McDavid vs. Denmark), but he battled hard to get the puck out of the defensive zone when necessary.
The physical tools are there for him to develop into a good power forward (speed/skating ability, frame, physicality, shot), but realistically he's probably a few years away. Power forwards typically take longer to develop anyway. He has a pretty high ceiling if he can work on his weaknesses (I see Jeff Carter as a reasonable comp, though Carter was good defensively at a young age). Hopefully he'll be back playing for Team Canada next year, in a bigger role more suited to his skillset.
Good points made here.
I think that the age thing here is a little overlooked. He's 1.5 years younger than most of the players on team Canada. He was almost the youngest player taken in the first round. This matters...especially when you're talking about 17, 18, 19 year olds. This effect is compounded by the fact that Virtanen IS a power forward type player and it takes a while for them to grow into their bodies.
I think he has the tools, you can teach the other things... Could be a Raffi Torres 3rd liner OR a Jeff Carter 1st/2nd liner
Said before he reminds me of Nash (especially in his Columbus years) and still sticking with that. Similar offensive style, good size, good speed, needs to play the body to be effective, and needs to be in the main SUPPORTING role to find team success. Not a bad career by any means, just a guy who won't win it all with the load squarely on his shoulders.