Player Discussion: Jake Virtanen | XV

[LeftCoast]

Here is another shift by shift YT video of the Syracuse game (Feb 12)


My notes - referenced to video time not game time.

• 0:19 - JV shot (sharp angle, low percentage)
• 0:34 - Break away pass - lost puck
• 0:50 - [PP] Forecheck, puck recovered
• 1:16 - [PP] Attempted zone entry - pass blocked / failed.
• 1:44 - [PP] Zone entry. PP zone time established.
• 2:11 - [PP] Zone Entry - PP zone time established (briefly)
• 2:17 - [PP] Shot (LH Circle) rebound generated.
• 2:36 - [PP] Zone entry - drop pass to Soutner (shot and rebound)
• 3:03 - Missed stretch pass - icing
• 3:20 - [PP] Forecheck, hit, puck recovered. (McEneny shot)
• 4:06 - [PP] Breakout to Pelletier. Turned over, SH goal against.
• 4:17 - [PP] Breakout, zone entry, shot (JV), Rebound (Cassels).
• 4:44 - Breakout pass to Cassels. Cassels fell in O-zone.
• 5:10 to 5:30 - Line stuck in D-Zone. Cassels and Sautner give aways.
• 5:56 - Zone entry, shot off LW (high circle).
• 6:04 - Forecheck - recovered puck after his own shot.
• 6:15 - Net front screen (shot by Sautner)
• 6:42 - Forecheck, puck recovered.
• 6:52 - Neutral ice play.
• 7:20 - Zone entry, circled net, pass to point (shot McEneny)
• 7:34 - Zone entry - turned back
• 7:52 - Zone entry, Shot, puck recovered.
• 8:34 - [PP] Shot (LW top of Circle) - Wide
• 8:58 - [PP] Shot (LH Circle near boards) - blocked
• 9:07 - [PP] Shot (on timer LH Dot) - Tipped over net, out of play.

I don't know if this is typical of his game (but it is similar to the Jan 27 YT video) but he is doing a lot of things right. His skating is markedly improved over earlier in the year. He is generating a lot of shots, most from the LH circle and breaking in off the wing. In this game he was the weak side trigger man for the PP, so the shot from the circle was a designed play. He was also the designated skater to get the drop pass on the PP and did a pretty good job of gaining the zone. There were a few shots from fairly sharp angles, but most of his rushes there was little or no support or trailer on the play so he had no choice but to either shoot from the wing or circle the net and drop to the point.

Except on the PP, once the puck is in the zone, or after the initial shot, his regular line with Cassels and Zalewski didn't have much of a half court game. He is pretty good at retrieving pucks, but once the puck was retrieved, they usually failed to get another shot off. No Sedinery at all.

 

[Kryten]

Thanks LC, his speed with the puck is a good sign thats a great positive. He didnt look to engage in any physical chances.

 

[VanJack]

There's something else going on that we're not being told about. That's my suspicion. Virtanen's progression hasn't just cratered, it's excavating. This is more than just a naturally dense kid not figuring out what he's got to do and a clueless hockey operation going awry in their assessment of a prospect. Something's just not right. Something stinks about this whole thing.

I'm starting to wonder about this myself.....kid had a serious shoulder injury when we drafted him, and missed a bunch of games the following season.....and appears to me he definitely hurt the shoulder again in a pre-season game in San Jose, although the Canuck medical staff apparently said there was nothing wrong with him.

But a power forward with a bum shoulder might partly explain what's happening right now.

 

[me2]

I've been saying this for awhile. There's no way he should be this bad.

I don't know if it's as simple as a shoulder injury he shouldn't be playing through or as complicated as a Brule-type mess that destroyed a player's enthusiasm for the sport, but there's more to this than just 'he sucks'.

He seems to have a suspicious number of sore shoulder incidents and no physical play followed by being told nothing is wrong with his shoulders.

A lot of smoke for no fire.

 

[ihaveyuidonttouchme]

another thing he needs to get going is being involved and not shy away every shift (he is getting better but not consistent.) right now from my recollection, he's not getting 1st pp, sometimes even 2nd pp? and zero pk time. if the comets r on strings of penalty kills, he's on a bench for quite awhile and that can disturb his flow of game. think last yrs of Kassian in terms of ice deployment

 

[ProstheticConscience]

It reminds me of how Linden and Benning were glowering down reproachfully from the GM's box whenever Kassian scored a goal the last season he was here.

It's just simply not adding up. Something big's not being reported about Jake and/or his relationship with the team.

 

[Soups On]

Can anyone explain to me why Virtanen is being developed in the right side? I always thought he was better on the left and he played LW in his draft year (?). Still doesn't excuse his garbage so far but I'm interested to see why.

 

[F A N]

Can anyone explain to me why Virtanen is being developed in the right side? I always thought he was better on the left and he played LW in his draft year (?). Still doesn't excuse his garbage so far but I'm interested to see why.

Virtanen is a natural right winger. He also played some C in his draft year too.

 

[racerjoe]

Botch was saying there is a Canuck player playing with bad wrists who has been playing the entire season, he thought it was Eriksson, I wonder if maybe it was Jake... outside shot I guess.

 

[HankNDank]

i am not sure i agree with a metric for top ten draft outcomes where yakapov is not considered a bust. the canucks had two top ten draft busts at camp in skille and sheppard who are not on your list. others fairly called busts would include guys like brule, peter mueller, hodgson, paajarvi, and connolly.

which also reminds me that neidereiter had a pretty similar awful start to virtanen.

I used that metric as the person I quoted accused him of going to have an AHL career, so that would leave him with under 100 games played. If we went with expectations to result, then it becomes very gray and everyone would have an opinion.

 

[VanJack]

Yes, RNH, Yakupov and even Taylor Hall were the consensus first overall picks in their draft years, but just goes to show that in a "non-generational player' draft, almost anything good or bad could happen.

It all comes down to how the players are developed and what's inside their heads, as to whether they become an impact players or not....over the years lots of top-10 picks have basically busted for these reasons.

 

[Peter10]

Botch was saying there is a Canuck player playing with bad wrists who has been playing the entire season, he thought it was Eriksson, I wonder if maybe it was Jake... outside shot I guess.

I would say its Edler...he is barely braking any sticks this year. Something is wrong with him

 

[ihaveyuidonttouchme]

Botch was saying there is a Canuck player playing with bad wrists who has been playing the entire season, he thought it was Eriksson, I wonder if maybe it was Jake... outside shot I guess.

Boeser had a wrist injury before wjc who's just recovering now

 

[racerjoe]

I would say its Edler...he is barely braking any sticks this year. Something is wrong with him

Nice detective work, I like the guess.

Boeser had a wrist injury before wjc who's just recovering now

It definitely wasn't him they were referring to, someone who has played with the big team at least part if not all of the season. Again he didn't know.

 

[krutovsdonut]

gudbranson also had a wrist injury.

if we go back to the pre-season, virtanen's first game involved him scoring then hurting his shoulder. it was reported he was judged fine by canuck docs, but it was also reported he went to get a second opinion. he stayed out of some games. when he came back on almost his first shift he tweaked his shoulder somehow on an innocent looking play and went running down the tunnel then came back quicky to the bench.

after that he was non-existent at the nhl level. at the ahl level he has slowly rebuilt his game until now he is doing everything but hitting. he is getting lots of shots but no scoring.

as noted, he had an nhl game last year that was working for him. it involved hitting.

sure sounds like a guy reworking his entire game around a shoulder problem.

 

[MS]

if we go back to the pre-season, virtanen's first game involved him scoring then hurting his shoulder. it was reported he was judged fine by canuck docs, but it was also reported he went to get a second opinion. he stayed out of some games. when he came back on almost his first shift he tweaked his shoulder somehow on an innocent looking play and went running down the tunnel then came back quicky to the bench.

after that he was non-existent at the nhl level. at the ahl level he has slowly rebuilt his game until now he is doing everything but hitting. he is getting lots of shots but no scoring.

as noted, he had an nhl game last year that was working for him. it involved hitting.

sure sounds like a guy reworking his entire game around a shoulder problem.

There have also been reports from the Utica fans on this board of him going off a couple times this year seeming to favour his shoulder.

 

[iFan]

Virtanen is a natural right winger. He also played some C in his draft year too.

Not correct... Virtanen plays his best on the left wing, in his draft year that got him noticed he was a left winger for he hitman. He should be developing as a left winger.

 

[polarbearcub]

Have to think the guy with the wrist issue is Daniel sedin

 

[sting101]

gudbranson also had a wrist injury.

if we go back to the pre-season, virtanen's first game involved him scoring then hurting his shoulder. it was reported he was judged fine by canuck docs, but it was also reported he went to get a second opinion. he stayed out of some games. when he came back on almost his first shift he tweaked his shoulder somehow on an innocent looking play and went running down the tunnel then came back quicky to the bench.

after that he was non-existent at the nhl level. at the ahl level he has slowly rebuilt his game until now he is doing everything but hitting. he is getting lots of shots but no scoring.

as noted, he had an nhl game last year that was working for him. it involved hitting.

sure sounds like a guy reworking his entire game around a shoulder problem.

I think the wrist is Sutter.....but I'm hoping it's Eriksson.

Yes definitely agree on the shoulder issues. He's completely avoided contact and between the 3 factors: shoulder, conditioning/preparation and needing to improve to be a good pro it's been a write off year mostly. Let's hope for a decent finish and a great off season. I've got a couple good source's on Jake hopefully I can shed some light on things in the next few months if the team doesn't divulge anything.

I still believe he can be a 2/3 line Hansen like player for this team. And I also wouldn't underestimate the influence and impact physically and mentally of a bad injury.

 

[krutovsdonut]

can't see sutter winning faceoffs the way he has all year with a bad wrist, and he's also gotten off some nice wrist shots this year.

daniel is an interesting guess. he's definitely changed his game the last 15-20 games for some reason and even before that he's consistently seemed more off his game than henrik.

 

[me2]

Nice detective work, I like the guess.



It definitely wasn't him they were referring to, someone who has played with the big team at least part if not all of the season. Again he didn't know.

If it was Jake they would have likely shut him down rather than struggling in the AHL. If Jake has anything my guess is he has more likely shoulder injuries that can be played through by not being too physical.

 

[Reverend Mayhem]

I've been saying this for awhile. There's no way he should be this bad.

I don't know if it's as simple as a shoulder injury he shouldn't be playing through or as complicated as a Brule-type mess that destroyed a player's enthusiasm for the sport, but there's more to this than just 'he sucks'.

There's been a lot of controversy with players coming back from injury to early this year, Rodin being the elephant .

Wouldn't surprise me.

 

[Wo Yorfat]

It reminds me of how Linden and Benning were glowering down reproachfully from the GM's box whenever Kassian scored a goal the last season he was here.

It's just simply not adding up. Something big's not being reported about Jake and/or his relationship with the team.

Your problem is you're assigning linden/benning even the tiniest bit of decency and competence. Flush that. Then attach arrogance and a complete and total lack of accountability. Then you'll have a full grasp on what we're dealing with.

 

[petrishriekandgo]

Botch was saying there is a Canuck player playing with bad wrists who has been playing the entire season, he thought it was Eriksson, I wonder if maybe it was Jake... outside shot I guess.

Has to be Daniel Sedin.

 

[F A N]

There have also been reports from the Utica fans on this board of him going off a couple times this year seeming to favour his shoulder.

I have been saying all along that he must be injured. His penchant for throwing hits just doesn't disappear like that especially when he's struggling in other aspects.

Not correct... Virtanen plays his best on the left wing, in his draft year that got him noticed he was a left winger for he hitman. He should be developing as a left winger.

Hmm... It appears you are right. I know that Virtanen played all 3 positions regularly but being a right shot I assumed he was a natural right winger. It appears he grew up playing left wing?