I actually disagree with a lot on both sides here.
First off, I am a Hitmen season ticket holder and in addition to all the home games, I watch many of the away games via streaming. I'm not saying that in the sense that I want to claim to know more about Virtanen (or any other player), but to point out my pro-Hitmen bias and simply that I have likely had the highest number of viewings of Virtanen of anyone here (except maybe FLYguy - he seems to watch every game).
I've stated before that Virtanen's body language and facial expressions on the ice and bench, and particularly in warm-up, suggest to me that he's a "spoiled" hockey player - that is, he has been told he is god's gift to hockey for a long time and believes it. He reminds me a lot of Crosby at this age in this regard. I have never met Virtanen nor do I think I ever will, but watching his actions on the bench and expressions after a play in which a teammate has made a mistake, he seems to think he is better than everyone else.
TOML noted that he has been "defensively responsible" in the ICE series, which is partially true. Virtanen has great wheels and covers a tonne of ice very quickly, so he's able to get back to his own zone quickly. However, he really struggles identifying what to do on the defensive side of the rush. I've seen him miss picking up his man many, many times over the coarse of the season that leads to a goal against. Example, watch Kootenay's first goal (about 40 seconds in):
http://www.whl.ca/video/56302
Virtanen commits a brutal giveaway, but is part of the backcheck and in the defensive zone at the same time as the puck. He never picks up Philp though, who goes on to score.
In terms of playmaking, I'd actually agree with TOML here. He's certainly picked up his playmaking ability and isn't a pure shot-first guy anymore. Craig is right in that he's not a Merkley or Barzal (and never will be), but I'd disagree that most of his assists come from shot-related events. In game 7, he made an excellent goal-line to blue-line pass, and was very unselfish on a 2-on-0 (2:40 and 5:10):
http://www.whl.ca/video/56821
Regarding the penalties, I think you're both right and both wrong. Virtanen does not take many undisciplined penalties for being "stupid". He does, however, eat a tonne of penalty minutes because he hits hard, and is rarely on the losing side of any physical play. He also gained a reputation for running over goaltenders last year, so if he goes anywhere near a keeper he's going to pick up a penalty.
With the shutdown role, Craig is right. At home, French never matches Virtanen against the top line (in this series, that's Reinhart). Specifically, Tambellini is the top line, Virtanen is the second, and Fazleev is the third. Like Craig said, Fazleev gets matched against the opposition's top line, although I think this may be because he's the best face-off man on the Hitmen.
However, line matching doesn't always work and Virtanen isn't a blind hockey player. He knows when he's on the ice with top-level talent (like Reinhart) and can take them off their game with physical play.
Finally, his "hockey IQ". This one gets tossed around everywhere and Virtanen is labelled as having low hockey IQ. I think I mostly agree with Craig in that he's about average, maybe a bit above, but he appears to have low hockey IQ because the rest of his skills are so high. He very often has "decided" on a play well before starting it and shows an inability to adapt (this is most evident when he is coming down the wing with the puck). He clearly makes a decision on whether or not to pass well in advance and if the pass option isn't there, it usually leads to a turnover. Same with a play like the wrap-around - he's decided that's what he's doing before he does it.
Just out of curiousity, Craig - where are your seats? I'm low behind the opposition net so if you have a different angle you may see things differently.
