Player Discussion Jake Virtanen, Pt. XXI

[alternate]

Yeah, I mean JV might be what he is going to be already, and if that's the case, he's still a useful player. His draft position no longer matters, especially when you consider the steals we got in Brock, Pettey, and Hughes at their draft positions. Keep adding useful players through the draft, and that stuff works itself out in the wash.

But I can't really agree with anyone that says Jake hasn't shown progression. He's certainly not the player he was when he entered the league. Much more complete player. Effort, especially defensively is much more consistent. And his offensive game has become more patient and possession oriented that it used to be. He's improved every year as a pro, and no reason to think at 23 there's no more room for growth.

He's never going to be a 30-30 guy like his draft status wanted him to be. But as long as he can score 15-20 goals, while being excellent at transition, physical and sound defensively then he's a piece we should all be happy to have. The only negative to Jake is his original draft status, but that's meaningless at this point. Judge him by what he does on the ice, and in relation to his cap hit, and he brings value and utility.

He can still work on the consistency of his effort night in, night out. But that's already much improved. He's now a professional, not just an immature kid living like a rock star. I would like to see him get some PK looks as well. Think that's the one thing missing from JV's game, is a place on special teams.

 

[DL44]

I wanna see him PK eventually this season... like start by throwing him out there for the last 20 seconds of every penalty Pearson and Horvat take.... as Pk tandem with other linemate not in the box...

I.e. Hovat in the box... throw out Pearson Virtanen as a PK unit...
Pearson in the box... throw out Horvat Virtanen.

A. I think he can handle it.
B. Penalty expires and they continue for 30 secs as a regular 5on5 line.
C. Starts building experience and confidence.

 

[shottasasa]

He has definitely been a better possession player this season when playing with Horvat. Elite players in this league tend to be very quick learners and process the game very fast. Guys who are not such quick learners and don’t process the game as fast can still improve to become effective through repetition and experience, it just might take them longer and means they probably don’t reach the ceiling their physical tools might have allowed. Also, they don’t often get that much rope to develop in the NHL unless they are either a high draft pick or have real stand out physical tools.

Virtanen would be much more valuable if he played special teams, and I think he could become a very good penalty killer, but it’s difficult to give him the latitude And time to learn on a competitive team in the NHL.

 

[DarrenX]

Like I said, an enigmatic player, and maybe at this point in his career, what you see is what you get.

FWIW, I remember people saying exactly the same thing about Bertuzzi before the light went on back in the early 2000s.

 

[Canuckle1970]

I second the notion of trying him on the pk occasionally. Several times last year, Green had Jake out in the last minute of games when the opposition had pulled their goalie. So Green had some trust in Jake to protect a lead.

 

[a Fool]

I've noticed he's using his speed to get open and then change speeds to give himself time to think and make a better pass or play; big contrast from always using his speed to drive forward. Let's face it the guy is never going to be a good split second decision maker which clashes with his skill set, but if he can keep playing smarter he'll be a good 3rd line guy or 2/3 tweener if he improves.

Ovie spot on the 2nd PP? Nothing to lose from letting him rip it from there.

 

[PuckMunchkin]

FWIW, I remember people saying exactly the same thing about Bertuzzi before the light went on back in the early 2000s.

Yeeeah... They are like the opposite tho.

 

[DFAC]

Really glad he's turning it around, for a while it seemed like everyone around here was rooting against him.

 

[DL44]

Really glad he's turning it around, for a while it seemed like everyone around here was rooting against him.

There will be some people that are so rooted and dug in on their opinion of Virtanen, that when they see him make a play or score they actually cringe at this point. Some may cry depending on how intense their need to be right on the internet is.

Anyways... great to see his first multipoint game of the season.

Watch Jake on any backcheck. Eraser... there are not too many forwards I feel better about on the ice in terms of there being 'scoring threat against' generated from his side of the ice.
I think he will surprise people with his takeaway number this yr (despite how poorly its kept)

He can only build that consistency 1 game at a time, one week at a time.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

He seems like the type of player who will always need a kick in the pants every once in a while to get him going again. But nothing wrong with that.
He needs to play a simple game, crash the net and create havoc with his body checks. Vastly improved defensively. If he can keep up his consistency and hit that 20 goal mark then he could be a key player moving forward. Encouraging start.

 

[VanJack]

The knock on Virtanen was never his skating or his shot....it was his intensity, consistency and hockey sense. But something appears to have clicked this year. He wouldn't be the first power forward prospect to struggle in their early years in the NHL, before turning it around.

 

[Hoghandler]

It’s time to get Virtanen onto the 2nd unit PP in place of Leivo. He’s earned it, plus it could help keep him engaged and be he push needed to get him to take that next step.

Still not out of the realm of possibility That they deal him this season though. Lots of depth in that middle 6.

 

[tantalum]

The knock on Virtanen was never his skating or his shot....it was his intensity, consistency and hockey sense. But something appears to have clicked this year. He wouldn't be the first power forward prospect to struggle in their early years in the NHL, before turning it around.

I wouldn't say anything clicked. The season is 12 games old and the first half of those was spent wondering where Virtanen was. He's had a few decent games in a row. But a few good games in a row was never his issue. He has always had those streaks. In order for him to turn the the corner and show something has clicked is going to require another 60 games of proper effort and play.

We have been down this "Virtanen finally gets it!" road a half dozen times at this point that I think it's fair and wise to see how his entire season plays out before making that assessment.

 

[F A N]

I wouldn't say anything clicked. The season is 12 games old and the first half of those was spent wondering where Virtanen was. He's had a few decent games in a row. But a few good games in a row was never his issue. He has always had those streaks. In order for him to turn the the corner and show something has clicked is going to require another 60 games of proper effort and play.

We have been down this "Virtanen finally gets it!" road a half dozen times at this point that I think it's fair and wise to see how his entire season plays out before making that assessment.

Yep. Not to take too much away from Virtanen, but a couple of his goals were weak/fluky ones. I think he is what he is until he shows that he isn't. Right now, he's a young 23 year old forward making $1.25M AAV with 4 goals and 7 points this season after coming off a 15 goal 25 point season last season. Take away the fact that we drafted him 6th overall and he's a very good young player to have in the lineup: young, cheap, relatively productive in his minutes, and has some offensive upside.

 

[DL44]

I wouldn't say anything clicked. The season is 12 games old and the first half of those was spent wondering where Virtanen was. He's had a few decent games in a row. But a few good games in a row was never his issue. He has always had those streaks. In order for him to turn the the corner and show something has clicked is going to require another 60 games of proper effort and play.

We have been down this "Virtanen finally gets it!" road a half dozen times at this point that I think it's fair and wise to see how his entire season plays out before making that assessment.

Altho completely fair to wait to see what his week to week consistency looks like... I think the cool part to see is that he isn't breaking down defensively.

The worst he's looked to me was a shift where he was sloppy with the puck in the offensive and turned it over twice high in the offensive zone a couple weeks ago. That's about it.
Got a talking to and a demotion for that.

What was the worst about his invisible start? Just that he was having quiet shifts. He wasn't flubbing about or missing assignments. But he wasn't noticeable enough, and didn't play with the puck enough. People are light on the trigger Jake. Equating having a quiet game with having a bad game.

Teams don't seem to score against Virtanen... don't know what the actual numbers say... but defensively it just feels like if the play goes the other way - its a matter of time before Virtanen will be disrupting and helping the team take back the other way.

Defensively.. 'he's got it'.
He'll be rewarded for it offensively eventually.

 

[Nucker101]

I think Jake gets too much hate sometimes since people are still bot over his draft position, but let's be real here, the guy is shooting at 18.2% and his career rate is 8.7%. If he only had 2 goals in 14 games right then I'm guessing this thread would look a lot different lol.

On the plus side, he has 13 shots in his last 4 games, at least 3 in every one of those games. He needs to keep shooting the puck at a high rate like that to truly "breakout" since he relies on shot volume to produce goals.

 

[DL44]

What are the numbers on Jake?

I assume they are very good defensively for sure...

Hopefully people don't have to stoop to /60 stats.

 

[BenningHurtsMySoul]

Now that we have had absolute steals come through in Pettersson, Boeser and Hughes, there should be much less pressure for Virtanen to produce.

 

[LaVal]

Remember last season when Virtanen had 6 goals in October and everybody thought he finally "got it" then? I like Virtanen and he's still a useful player as a streaky energy guy in the Torres mold, but that's just what he is. He causes turnovers, draws penalties, and chips in a few goals. However his biggest glaring issue is still there: his feet move faster than his head. He has 1 play in the offensive zone - drive wide and fire a shot on net. He's got a good shot so it's not a bad play, but when it's his only play it's easy to defend against. I'd love to be wrong, but I just don't see anything to indicate this isn't just another hot streak.

 

[Regal]

Remember last season when Virtanen had 6 goals in October and everybody thought he finally "got it" then? I like Virtanen and he's still a useful player as a streaky energy guy in the Torres mold, but that's just what he is. He causes turnovers, draws penalties, and chips in a few goals. However his biggest glaring issue is still there: his feet move faster than his head. He has 1 play in the offensive zone - drive wide and fire a shot on net. He's got a good shot so it's not a bad play, but when it's his only play it's easy to defend against. I'd love to be wrong, but I just don't see anything to indicate this isn't just another hot streak.

I think the improvements in his game each year are more subtle than the scoresheet. He will likely always be a bit of a hot and cold player in terms of production, but it's the more consistent efforts game to game, and little plays to maintain possession rather than give it away that add up to a more effective overall player in the bottom 6, and one that hopefully can continue to be more useful when moved up on occasion, which I thought he was when paired with Bo. Not ideal, but passable if need be. Similar to Hansen, which people have mentioned in the past as a potential comparable.

 

[F A N]

I think Jake gets too much hate sometimes since people are still bot over his draft position, but let's be real here, the guy is shooting at 18.2% and his career rate is 8.7%. If he only had 2 goals in 14 games right then I'm guessing this thread would look a lot different lol.

That's because there's often two Jakes. One seemingly gets at least a breakaway chance per game. If those are the only shots he takes, an 18.2% SH% is highly sustainable. But he also takes bad angle shots from far away and doesn't convert many of his breakaway chances.

 

[Oliewud]

hes actually been stopping up once entering the blue line and looking to make a play. nice to see

 

[chaputonyou]

I was just at the Best Buy off the Cambie Street bridge buying some headphones when this young guy walks by me....baseball hat on backwards, tattoos on his left arm, looking like someone's kid brother...he walks by me and I realized it was Jake Virtanen. I turned around and said, 'Hey Jake!' and he turned around and smiled and said, 'Hey' and I said...'good game the other night' . He smiled and I turned and walked away.

I'm glad he's playing better these days and using his head more to make plays. The guy has a nice set of tools - especially that speed of his. Travis Green has done a lot of work with him over the past few years. Hopefully it's sticking.

 

[PG Canuck]

FWIW, I remember people saying exactly the same thing about Bertuzzi before the light went on back in the early 2000s.

you guys are still holding onto this point, aren’t you

 

[PG Canuck]

I wouldn't say anything clicked. The season is 12 games old and the first half of those was spent wondering where Virtanen was. He's had a few decent games in a row. But a few good games in a row was never his issue. He has always had those streaks. In order for him to turn the the corner and show something has clicked is going to require another 60 games of proper effort and play.

We have been down this "Virtanen finally gets it!" road a half dozen times at this point that I think it's fair and wise to see how his entire season plays out before making that assessment.

this exactly. I don’t even hate Virtanen, I just hate the fact a tiny little streak gets brought up as him “getting it” or “coming into his own”. Like, no. He always does this. If he can do this for an entire season, we can talk. Until then, he is more than likely going to fade off again, this thread will die until his next 5 game hot streak then die off again.

how many years of the same cycle do we need to go through? Until he’s 30? Even then I wouldn’t doubt seeing posts of him having potential still.

the sooner he gets molded into a Jannik Hansen type, the better it will be.