[Shift-by-Shift Video] Jake Virtanen: How The Canucks Are Destroying His Development

[izzy]

He's just going for two games, lol oh my

 

[DonskoiDonscored]

Not sure why you're sending a player down and then telling him he's guaranteed to be back up.

Sounds like an invitation to coast and make sure you don't get hurt.

 

[StrictlyCommercial]

Not sure why you're sending a player down and then telling him he's guaranteed to be back up.

Sounds like an invitation to coast and make sure you don't get hurt.

That is a highly logical way of looking at it. Now consider who manages the Canucks and it all makes sense.

 

[Kranix]

I don't get it. If he's good enough he'll be in the NHL. If not, he won't be.

 

[SillyRabbit]

Virtanen shouldn't have been drafted 6th overall. He's simply not a top 10 talent.

Benning really blew that one.

 

[blueandgoldguy]

Canucks had a golden opportunity to boost their offense up front back in 2014 with a future top-3 forward like Ehlers or Nylander but they blew it by picking a player who may not even be a future top-6 player in Virtanen. Decisions like this mean the Canucks will have to suffer at for 3 - 5 additional seasons of rebuilding before they have a hope of being a regular playoff contender.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I don't get this sudden realization that a prospect is not developing in Vancouver. I mean it has never been a hot bed for development, the amount of prospects that were on the path to realization of their potential is few and far in between and that's not some diss to the Canucks, it's a team that has drafted insanely poorly for most of his existence, has not really developed well at any position and has continued to do so without giving a ****.

The team hires poorly for management and executives as well, it's like a boys club there. You want to ask where is the problem? That's the problem.

It's not so much Willie Desjardins alone as it's the entire management team that seems to just not care even if they say they have the best interest for most of these guys, at heart.

 

[JTmillerForA1stLOL]

I haven't noticed him whatsoever all year. He does nothing. He doesn't even hit. He's a shell of what he was even last year.

I feel bad for the guy. I think he's got the skill to be a professional, but his confidence just looks shattered.

 

[umwoz]

From an advanced stats perspective...

Nobody on the Nucks has a higher score adjusted corsi/60 at even strength. In english, he puts more pucks toward the net than anyone on the team(per 60).

On the opposite end of this, the quality of these shot attempts has been a bit of an issue with him. His shots don't follow an ideal density pattern, he takes many from above the circles, especially on the left side. Also he has a lot of missed shots from good scoring zones.(Which usually either points to lack of strength because your shots are easily affected or simply a lack of accuracy)

That said, I'm sure the average quality of his shots would skew towards being better if he had more than 7 seconds of PPTOI per game.

 

[aufheben]

That's some dramatic music lol

 

[777]

Always thought he had the physical tools but no hockey IQ for the NHL level.

Ya that's been my opinion since the horrible WJC he had and I haven't seen him do anything to change it since then.

 

[Flair Hay]

That's what you get when you have a coach coaching for his job instead of being on the same page as the GM. Sucks for Canucks fans having to watch stuff like this.

 

[Korpse]

Ya that's been my opinion since the horrible WJC he had and I haven't seen him do anything to change it since then.

It's been a crisitism of his game from before the draft. Personally he has never really impressed me as an NHL prospect.

 

[Flair Hay]

Virtanen shouldn't have been drafted 6th overall. He's simply not a top 10 talent.

Benning really blew that one.

I think even though he was over drafted a bit he was still borderline top ten talent. Leaving him in junior longer would have avoided a scenario like this.

 

[GREMLIN]

He's just not that good, sorry to break it to you but he's busting.

Not trolling, totally believe it.

 

[NoQuitInNewMexico]

Who plays a decent NHL power forward game at 19/20? Genuinely don't know, guess there have to be some names though. Kind of reminds me of Nino Niederreiter getting like two assists in 57 games or whatever that disaster was.

 

[Kale Hulls]

The transitions and defensive breakouts look terrible, really sloppy and with very poor support. Virtanaen doesn't really have much chance to play the puck in most of these situations. Honestly I think he'd probably be better off spending another year in the AHL. That team just looks like death to his career. Also Horvat looked really bad in those clips as well.

 

[Pip]

Virtanen hasn't done anything since being drafted worthy of his draft position or being put in the NHL. He had an unspectacular draft +1 year, a terrible World Juniors, and has looked lost in the NHL. He had a good stretch at the end of last year but so far it seems like that was an anomaly.

The Canucks really haven't done him any favours though, especially this year since he should have been in the AHL all season.

The transitions and defensive breakouts look terrible, really sloppy and with very poor support. Virtanaen doesn't really have much chance to play the puck in most of these situations. Honestly I think he'd probably be better off spending another year in the AHL. That team just looks like death to his career. Also Horvat looked really bad in those clips as well.

Horvat hasn't played as well as he's capable of, but overall he's been good this year. One of the few bright spots this year. Problem is that he's playing with a slumping Baertschi and Virtanen/Skille.

 

[Kale Hulls]

Virtanen hasn't done anything since being drafted worthy of his draft position or being put in the NHL. He had an unspectacular draft +1 year, a terrible World Juniors, and has looked lost in the NHL. He had a good stretch at the end of last year but so far it seems like that was an anomaly.

The Canucks really haven't done him any favours though, especially this year since he should have been in the AHL all season.



Horvat hasn't played as well as he's capable of, but overall he's been good this year. One of the few bright spots this year. Problem is that he's playing with a slumping Baertschi and Virtanen/Skille.

Thanks for the info. I haven't watched any the Canucks regular season games yet, but I watched one of their preseason games and Horvat looked like a monster out on the ice.

 

[FDBluth]

Started to watch the video for the lolz, stayed for the music.

 

[Reverend Mayhem]

Why tell him that. I does nothing if that's the case

Because our management is ****ed in the head

 

[Reverend Mayhem]

I don't get this sudden realization that a prospect is not developing in Vancouver. I mean it has never been a hot bed for development, the amount of prospects that were on the path to realization of their potential is few and far in between and that's not some diss to the Canucks, it's a team that has drafted insanely poorly for most of his existence, has not really developed well at any position and has continued to do so without giving a ****.

The team hires poorly for management and executives as well, it's like a boys club there. You want to ask where is the problem? That's the problem.

It's not so much Willie Desjardins alone as it's the entire management team that seems to just not care even if they say they have the best interest for most of these guys, at heart.

You speak as if we don't already know this.

 

[TheNumber4]

Is it development or is it the player? Does anyone actually ever KNOW the answer to that? If he spent an extra year in the WHL does he magically get better the next year? Who really knows!

If he got 15 minutes of ice time and still couldn't generate offence, but is now costing the team even moreso does that mean that he's in a better developmental environment?

 

[tigervixxxen]

He's going to take someone's number for two days too? What kind of message does that send?

I've always liked Jake, I have a soft spot for power forwards. It's tough to see guys held in the NHL to keep them out of junior and basically lose an entire development year because of it. Now the two game trip to the AHL is pretty ridiculous.

 

[Pancakes]

You can blame the shoulder injury but his draft + 1 season was a big disappointment. I just don't think he was as good as he was touted as being.

I think it's pretty much this. His draft +1 year was garbage. Maybe he's just not that good? Happens all the time with prospects. If a guy isn't taking a step up in production/play after their draft year, that's not a good sign.