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6th Overall - Jake Virtanen UPDATE: Signed to 3-Year ELC

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Win One Before I Die

Win One Before I Die

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After hours of watching David Booth videos I am educated enough to tip my fedora to Virtanen and be like ok why does Booth even exist.
 

JA

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Elliot20 said:
Nolan is not as fast.

Jake is more like Kane+Booth speed+Torres hitter
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While I suppose it works to combine three player profiles to have a sense of what kind of player Jake is, might it not also be sufficient to call him a faster Owen Nolan? Or are there other elements you feel may be different about their games? I've seen Owen carry the puck wide on numerous occasions, and early in his career I feel he had pretty good straight-line speed.







Shooting star; Owen Nolan is no longer a secret: [Final Edition]
Mayoh, Rick. The Ottawa Citizen [Ottawa, Ont] 17 Mar 1990: E1.

...

Just two years ago, Nolan was skating in obscurity, playing bantam A in Thorold, near Welland. He was rated 259th at one point prior to the OHL draft... No offence to Thorold, but Nolan literally jumped out of nowhere to become a leading candidate to battle Peterborough Petes centre Mike Ricci for first-overall NHL draft status.

...

This season, despite a shoulder injury that knocked Nolan out of the lineup for six games, five of which the Royals lost, he still scored 51 goals while piling up 240 minutes in penalties.

It's that rare combination of scoring touch and mean streak that attracts the scouts' attention... The punishing 6-2, 190-pounder -- he turned 18 last month -- also received a lot of notice from OHL coaches, who ranked him near the top of several categories in their annual poll.

He was selected best body checker in the Leyden Division, ahead of Oshawa's Eric Lindros, and tied with Ricci for best shot.

He trailed Ricci as most dangerous in the goal area and was third as best and fastest skater.

...

Nolan's agent, Gene McBurney, first saw him in Thorold at a conditioning camp for juniors and pros run by a friend.

"I said 'This is a bantam?' I went to watch him and the kid just blew me away, the way he took the body, the way he had the fire in the belly," said McBurney... "He goes into the corner, takes the man out, comes out with the puck and likes to carry it up. He really likes playing physically... He has a linebacker mentality, he won't be a quarterback."

...

Ellen Nolan said the OHL's Central Scouting Bureau first listed her son a year younger than he was, causing confusion about his eligibility. But Central Scouting wasn't particularly impressed with Nolan, anyway, finally rating him in the seventh round... The Royals took him in the second round after claiming John Slaney, now the league's top-scoring defenceman. Nolan, Slaney and 1989 first-round defenceman Rod Pasma could all go in the first round of June's NHL draft.

"People said we were ruining our draft by taking 16-year-olds in the first two rounds," said Tessier, who had the last laugh.

Last season, Nolan scored 34 goals and 25 assists, had 213 penalty minutes and was the Royals' first OHL rookie of the year...The pros like what they see.
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Vankiller Whale said:
Owen Nolan put up over 40 goals in his 2nd year in the NHL. I think our expectations ought to be a little more tempered than that.
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I believe we are judging his style of play, not his potential.
Works Cited

Mayoh, Rick. "Shooting Star; Owen Nolan is no Longer a Secret." The Ottawa Citizen: 0. Mar 17 1990. ProQuest. Web. 2 July 2014 .
Click to expand...
 
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CanaFan

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JetsAlternate said:
Is nobody taking the Nolan comparison? Everything I've seen of Jake thus far has given me the impression of him being similar.
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Honestly it's been so long since I've seen Nolan play, and even longer since he was in his prime (it's been years since he had even decent speed) that it's just not an easy comparable to recall. You certainly could be right about the comp, I just find Kane easier to "picture" than Nolan.
 
CanaFan

CanaFan

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Vankiller Whale said:
Owen Nolan put up over 40 goals in his 2nd year in the NHL. I think our expectations ought to be a little more tempered than that.
Click to expand...

I doubt the Nolan comparison is meant to imply 41 goals as a 19 year old. We're talking a drastically different league and era from Nolan's second season in 1991-92.
 
Bankerguy

Bankerguy

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OOOHHH I forgot about Nolan.

He's a very good comparison.

Voted one of the fastest skaters, hardest hitters, and best shot..
arn't those the same 3 categories that Virtanen won awards for in Junior. They both boast similar frames too.... Could be a clone!

if Virtanen scores as many as Nolan did i'll be happy!
 

Iridescent*

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David Booth is a perfect comparison, despite you all not liking it.
 
Huggy

Huggy

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Definately even more powerful than kane when u consider he was 17 and injured for this season.

i honestly picture hull and hull alone
 
biturbo19

biturbo19

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Vankiller Whale said:
Owen Nolan put up over 40 goals in his 2nd year in the NHL. I think our expectations ought to be a little more tempered than that.
Click to expand...

While that's true, i think those sort of expectations might be pretty over the top...

I think there is something to be said for the way a lot of guys with the sort of tools and playstyle Virtanen has have translated to the NHL with some pretty early success.

Guys like Evander Kane even, jumped straight into the NHL and was a 20g scorer by his 2nd season (and that's after jumping straight in for his draft+1 year).

I think skating+size+shot are attributes that often seem to translate more quickly than others. That sort of game Virtanen plays...he's already inclined towards playing a game where he makes his own space with the tools he has. Less of an adjustment in a lot of ways, than there might be for a lot of Jr Point Producers who are used to working in space to make things happen...and suddenly there isn't any more free space in the NHL. And by the time Virtanen is ready to push for an NHL spot...next year, the year after...he should already have NHL size, elite skating ability, and a decidedly NHL calibre shooting ability (and not just one type of shot either).

The all-around game...that may take longer to come around, who knows. But it wouldn't shock me to see a guy like Virtanen burst onto the scene and post some really exciting offensive results with his first go-round in the NHL, given his tools and style of game.
 
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