RW Jake Virtanen - Calgary Hitmen, WHL (2014, 6th, VAN) II

[CanaFan]

I for one, agree with you.

I think the issue is that management and fans seem to think that he's in the same position Horvat was in last year. I don't think he's even close, Gaunce IMO earned that spot over him.

That's debatable and depends on "what spot" is being earned. If Benning is looking for a low-risk, utility player to spot in and out of the bottom 6 then ya, Gaunce earned that spot. But with Hansen, Higgins, Sutter, Burrows and Kenins we have no shortage of guys who can fill a bottom 6 defensive role as well or better than Gaunce. And as an AHL eligible player, Gaunce can be called up anytime we want or need all season long.

Jake on the other hand either makes the team now or he's in junior for the next 8 months. And he brings a greater total upside than Gaunce if he plays and develops as he should. Despite what buddy above says, Jake had a very strong game himself against Edmonton and didn't merely piggy back on Horvat. Both assists were directly set up by Virtanen (and nicely finished by Horvat) while his goal - though not pretty - was a result of him battling at the net. And if you want an example of his goal scoring upside, check out his PP goal against Calgary a few games back.

Ya he's still raw and has a lot to work on but to say he hasn't earned a place or that we are only feeding our egos by wanting him on the team is garbage. He's simply a better prospect than Gaunce (better, not more polished) and as such some of us are very excited to see how much he can progress this season in front of our eyes rather than buried away in junior where we barely see much of him.

 

[lawrence]

Playing exactly as advertised. Sure he's not lights out the best offensive player at number 6, but a hard hitting , north south Winger who can score goals from British Columbia was the right pick. The guy is quite a menance out there. I'd be careful if I was a dman. that said I think he will be sent back down to the dub.

 

[Elias Pettersson]

Well in the preseason he's outscored and looked better than Bennett, Draisaitl, Ehlers, and Nylander.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

Well in the preseason he's outscored and looked better than Bennett, Draisaitl, Ehlers, and Nylander.

Shhhhh.
Let's keep that to ourselves.


Watching him and Horvat together last game you can get a glimpse of what the future could look like. Full ahead speed by Virtanen with lots of physical play and a two way center in Horvat. Both guys willing to go to the dirty areas for goals. That's going to be one heck of a tough duo to play against.

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

i hate these debateable decisions for NHL teams with their youngsters that are top prospects... every year there are multiple players from all different teams that are in this situation of either NHL or juniors. I am very curious what is gonna happen. Good thing though is that Nucks still have quite a while before he gets that 9 game limit, so I am sure by then itll be a lot clearer what the plan will be

 

[SmellOfVictory]

Well in the preseason he's outscored and looked better than Bennett, Draisaitl, Ehlers, and Nylander.

He did look quite impressive when I saw him. I still don't expect him to have a particularly high ceiling, but he's taking baby steps to prove doubters wrong.

 

[CherryToke]

i hate these debateable decisions for NHL teams with their youngsters that are top prospects... every year there are multiple players from all different teams that are in this situation of either NHL or juniors. I am very curious what is gonna happen. Good thing though is that Nucks still have quite a while before he gets that 9 game limit, so I am sure by then itll be a lot clearer what the plan will be

they should change the rule so NHL teams can send one 19 year old to the AHL each year.

 

[Elias Pettersson]

they should change the rule so NHL teams can send one 19 year old to the AHL each year.

Then the CHL loses out on their top 30 players every year. One team might even lose 2 or 3

 

[Robongo01]

Then the CHL loses out on their top 30 players every year. One team might even lose 2 or 3

Who cares? CHL is exploiting these players anyways with the money they're making off their backs. Make their junior eligibility one year sooner.

 

[Canucks LB]

Honestly he has probably been my most surprising player outside of massive out of nowhere Hutton.

I expected him to be decent, and make the team. But his play in the last few games especially he has shown great passing ability and vision which I always thought was lacking.

Hope he keeps it up

 

[TruGr1t]

Consider me pleasantly surprised. Have a sneaking suspicion he's one of these guys who will develop better in the NHL than in junior. Has been getting better throughout the preseason.

 

[lawrence]

Honestly he has probably been my most surprising player outside of massive out of nowhere Hutton.

I expected him to be decent, and make the team. But his play in the last few games especially he has shown great passing ability and vision which I always thought was lacking.

Hope he keeps it up

seriously???

well anyways, we all have our opinion, i'm not surprised about Virtannen, because I knew he is a good player. He's not offensively skilled, he can play an offensive game still, he was already making a presence when he was playing in the AHL, i'm really not surprised.

with exception of Hutton, I think Jared McCann and his exception 2 way game, as in very good defensively and exceptionally good offense skills, is surprising everyone. Might need to add some weight, but very excited about Jake. But mark my words, I will be surprised if he's "not" sent back down.

 

[Rebuilt]

they should change the rule so NHL teams can send one 19 year old to the AHL each year.

If Virtanen were AHL eligible this entire line of super hype for him to stay in Vancouver would be moot.

Since he cant, the options are keep him as a plodding 4th liner with minimal minutes in Vancouver or send him back to junior to work on his playmaking.

The very best thing for Jake is to work on his weaknesses by going back to junior where he can hopefully put up 100 points using his linemates and developing his on ice awareness.

He doesnt need to work on his crashing and banging which is all he will be doing in Vancouver this year. To reject this basic fact is willful denial of the obvious. Nobody has ever put forth a reason why Jake NEEDS to make the NHL this year for his sake or the teams sake.

Other than to burn a year of his ELC status.

 

[Kreider]

If Virtanen were AHL eligible this entire line of super hype for him to stay in Vancouver would be moot.

Since he cant, the options are keep him as a plodding 4th liner with minimal minutes in Vancouver or send him back to junior to work on his playmaking.

The very best thing for Jake is to work on his weaknesses by going back to junior where he can hopefully put up 100 points using his linemates and developing his on ice awareness.

He doesnt need to work on his crashing and banging which is all he will be doing in Vancouver this year. To reject this basic fact is willful denial of the obvious. Nobody has ever put forth a reason why Jake NEEDS to make the NHL this year for his sake or the teams sake.

Other than to burn a year of his ELC status.

Wow thats a lot of dumb **** you just said good job!

 

[w1kitklown*]

he knocked mcdavid on his ass and the oilers did nothing thats all i know about him

 

[CanaFan]

If Virtanen were AHL eligible this entire line of super hype for him to stay in Vancouver would be moot.

Since he cant, the options are keep him as a plodding 4th liner with minimal minutes in Vancouver or send him back to junior to work on his playmaking.

The very best thing for Jake is to work on his weaknesses by going back to junior where he can hopefully put up 100 points using his linemates and developing his on ice awareness.

He doesnt need to work on his crashing and banging which is all he will be doing in Vancouver this year. To reject this basic fact is willful denial of the obvious. Nobody has ever put forth a reason why Jake NEEDS to make the NHL this year for his sake or the teams sake.

Other than to burn a year of his ELC status.

Oh man I didn't realize that players can't work on anything other than their crash and bang skills once they get to the NHL.

That really sucks cause last year we went and gave 19 y/o Bo Horvat the 4C role not knowing that he would only develop his crash and bang skills in the NHL.

Wish you had shared this brilliant insight a year ago before we ruined Horvat. I mean look at him today, he's "only" developed into our second line centre. Thanks a lot Desjardins and Benning for ruining this once great prospect, just as you will undoubtedly ruin Jake this year.

 

[CherryToke]

If Virtanen were AHL eligible this entire line of super hype for him to stay in Vancouver would be moot.

Since he cant, the options are keep him as a plodding 4th liner with minimal minutes in Vancouver or send him back to junior to work on his playmaking.

The very best thing for Jake is to work on his weaknesses by going back to junior where he can hopefully put up 100 points using his linemates and developing his on ice awareness.

He doesnt need to work on his crashing and banging which is all he will be doing in Vancouver this year. To reject this basic fact is willful denial of the obvious. Nobody has ever put forth a reason why Jake NEEDS to make the NHL this year for his sake or the teams sake.

Other than to burn a year of his ELC status.

Jake will never be a playmaker so I'm not sure why he needs to go to junior to work on playmaking? he's a power forward that hits hard skates fast and has a good shot all of which are NHL ready based on his preseason play. the ideal place for him is probably the AHL where he can continue to work on using his power game against men. not sure what he's gonna gain playing in junior ragdolling kids for another year.

 

[McFlyingV]

Well in the preseason he's outscored and looked better than Bennett, Draisaitl, Ehlers, and Nylander.

Pretty sure all of Bennett, Draisaitl, and Virtanen have 4 points in 5 games, and Im not sure how you can say he's looked better than all of those players when I'm sure you haven't watched all the games that each player has played. Just like I won't claim that Draisaitl has looked better than any of those players in preseason, simply because I haven't watched all of their games.

he knocked mcdavid on his ass and the oilers did nothing thats all i know about him

Thats not really true, Moroz went after him a few times and laid a pretty solid hit on him, and Nurse tried to fight him but the refs got in between. Not that it really matters. The hit was way overblown because of the media hype and microscope thats on McDavid right now. If that happened to any other player on the oilers rookie roster no one would be talking about it.

That said Virtanen has looked good, and I see him being a prime Raffi Torres type in a couple of years (minus the cheap shots), which is a pretty damn useful player.

 

[Love]

he knocked mcdavid on his ass and the oilers did nothing thats all i know about him

Thats not really true, Moroz went after him a few times and laid a pretty solid hit on him, and Nurse tried to fight him but the refs got in between. Not that it really matters. The hit was way overblown because of the media hype and microscope thats on McDavid right now. If that happened to any other player on the oilers rookie roster no one would be talking about it.

I don't get why we're still talking about this hit.

It's Hockey. Players get hit all the time.

JV is a hockey player and he cleanly hit another hockey player. McDavid understands this and so does JV. I don't get why the media has to ask JV about it 10 times before every Oiler game.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

If Virtanen were AHL eligible this entire line of super hype for him to stay in Vancouver would be moot.

Since he cant, the options are keep him as a plodding 4th liner with minimal minutes in Vancouver or send him back to junior to work on his playmaking.
.

Plodding?

Maybe you don't know the meaning of the word. Is that the problem?

plod·ding

/ˈplädiNG/

adjective

adjective: plodding
slow-moving and unexciting

First time I've ever heard Virtanen described as slow moving and unexciting. Whatever weaknesses he does have, plodding isn't among them.

 

[McFlyingV]

I don't get why we're still talking about this hit.

It's Hockey. Players get hit all the time.

JV is a hockey player and he cleanly hit another hockey player. McDavid understands this and so does JV. I don't get why the media has to ask JV about it 10 times before every Oiler game.

Because the media is cringeworthy lol. I had to stop watching interviews during the Oilers rookie camp because every 2nd question to every player was something about McDavid. A lot of the questions media ask are just embarrassing and make me want to facepalm.

 

[Elias Pettersson]

Pretty sure all of Bennett, Draisaitl, and Virtanen have 4 points in 5 games

Yes, but tiebreaker in points is goals scored and he's scored more goals than those 2. Also, both of his assists were primary assists, without which, the goals would definitely not occur.

 

[Rebuilt]

Wow thats a lot of dumb **** you just said good job!

Its my honest assessment . Feel free to disagree but its not a 'dumb' post.

Oh man I didn't realize that players can't work on anything other than their crash and bang skills once they get to the NHL.

That really sucks cause last year we went and gave 19 y/o Bo Horvat the 4C role not knowing that he would only develop his crash and bang skills in the NHL.

Wish you had shared this brilliant insight a year ago before we ruined Horvat. I mean look at him today, he's "only" developed into our second line centre. Thanks a lot Desjardins and Benning for ruining this once great prospect, just as you will undoubtedly ruin Jake this year.

Jake is not Bo Horvat. They have a different skill set altogether. Bo has all the tools and needed no further time in Junior. If Jake was doing the same things in all areas that Bo was, I would have no problem with keeping him up here.

Jake will never be a playmaker so I'm not sure why he needs to go to junior to work on playmaking? he's a power forward that hits hard skates fast and has a good shot all of which are NHL ready based on his preseason play. the ideal place for him is probably the AHL where he can continue to work on using his power game against men. not sure what he's gonna gain playing in junior ragdolling kids for another year.

Unfortunately he cant go to the AHL which is where he should go. So either he stays up here or goes back to junior . You cant improve your 'playmaking ' skills on the third or fourth line with scrubs. Its not PERSONAL . Its the way it is.

Nobody has suggested WHY he needs to play up here other than to show em all that Jake is a 6th overall pick and just as good as Ehlers and Nylander.

Plodding?

Maybe you don't know the meaning of the word. Is that the problem?

plod·ding

/ˈplädiNG/

adjective

adjective: plodding
slow-moving and unexciting

First time I've ever heard Virtanen described as slow moving and unexciting. Whatever weaknesses he does have, plodding isn't among them.

I didnt say Virtanen was 'plodding' I did say that the role of a 4th liner is one of mucking about. I guess I used the wrong word. Sorry.

 

[Sergei Shirokov]

I think its too soon, I'm kind of 50/50 on Virtanen as far as whether he should be sent back, I really think the extra 9 games is needed to know for sure, if he continues to improve then keep him if he doesn't send him back and recall Gaunce.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

Its my honest assessment . Feel free to disagree but its not a 'dumb' post.



Jake is not Bo Horvat. They have a different skill set altogether. Bo has all the tools and needed no further time in Junior. If Jake was doing the same things in all areas that Bo was, I would have no problem with keeping him up here.



Unfortunately he cant go to the AHL which is where he should go. So either he stays up here or goes back to junior . You cant improve your 'playmaking ' skills on the third or fourth line with scrubs. Its not PERSONAL . Its the way it is.

Nobody has suggested WHY he needs to play up here other than to show em all that Jake is a 6th overall pick and just as good as Ehlers and Nylander.



I didnt say Virtanen was 'plodding' I did say that the role of a 4th liner is one of mucking about. I guess I used the wrong word. Sorry.

Jake may not be Bo Horvat but Horvat did not have all the tools to start last season. He had a strong defensive game but there was the same debate as to whether he should go back to junior to work on his offence. A lot of people thought that would be best.
Not many predicted the offensive skills he showed in the second half.