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Jake Virtanen | #18 | RW

avelanch

By avelanch
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kloubek Canucks First-Line

kloubek

Posted
Posted
15 hours ago, BoeserSnipe said:

I see Gadjovich and Virtanen as interchangable and depending on who maxes out higher is a better first line winger. I am not judging 'what' virtanen is until he's 24/25. If he can be a 40 pt winger and hit, intimidate, drive the net, with his speed on the first line he's all we need.

 

Gadjovich needs to improve his speed for sure and while Boeser is improving there, he'll never be a burner. You need someone to get in on the forecheck and do the dirty work to get Petterson the puck, who then feeds Brock in his spots to score. Much of the reason Babcock loves Hyman on the first line is because he is fast and does all the hard / dirty work to get Matthews and Nyalnder the puck. Much as Burr did for the twins, i just think irrespective of where Virtanen ends up points wise, with his speed he can be exactly what "that" first line needs to be incredibly effective, and he only needs to work hard to be that player already.

Boeser is improving, but he's pretty darn slippery so he's never really needed to be able to fly as much as others.  He just slips into position and then releases that shot.


As far as Jake goes - he absolutely has the tools.  We've all seen that. I honestly am not sure what is holding him back.  He doesn't always make the smart play, I know that - but even still I would have expected him to be more effective than he has been - improvement or not. Right now he's playing a 3rd line role and not even excelling in that role yet so although I agree the style of player he can and should be that could be effective on an upper line, he has a long ways to go to get there.

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aGENT Canucks Hall-of-Famer

aGENT

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Posted (edited)
18 hours ago, BoeserSnipe said:

True! and forgot Granlund as well!

And I'd rather sign Kane for that spot personally :P

 

In a few years, something like:

Kane, Pettersson, Boeser

Dahlen, Horvat, Virtanen/Lind

Gadjovich, Gaudette, Lind/Virtanen

Gaunce, MacEwan, Lockwood

 

The rest moved to fill other holes and/or further picks/prospects to keep the pipeline flowing.

Edited by aGENT
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BoeserSnipe Abbotsford Prospect

BoeserSnipe

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Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, aGENT said:

And I'd rather sign Kane for that spot personally :P

 

In a few years, something like:

Kane, Pettersson, Boeser

Dahlen, Horvat, Virtanen/Lind

Gadjovich, Gaudette, Lind/Virtanen

Gaunce, MacEwan, Lockwood

 

The rest moved to fill other holes and/or further picks/prospects to keep the pipeline flowing.

That's a hell of a team if the young prospects can reach those levels of play! I like, but I'd like to see Labate/Dowd on the 4th line. Lockwood is a maybe to make the NHL and if he does his role is likely a 3rd liner who can swing up to a 2W if required. I see him as depth if he even makes it.

 

Love that first line, and would still like to see Granny around - He reminds me alot of Hansen - less physical but does all the same things Hansen did just as well, and has slightly better hands.

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BoeserSnipe Abbotsford Prospect

BoeserSnipe

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4 hours ago, dpn1 said:

They are both wingers but Jonah is a left winger and Jake is a right winger. Maybe they both should flank Pettersson. ::D

Jake played LW in junior and was much more effective on his off wing "offensively" - I take your point though as they are playing him on his strong side in the pros. That being said it may be simply to make it easier on him initially as he's focusing on developing his defensive positional play and they dont want him even thinking offense right now. When he's proven he can 'play the way they want him to' - he may get a chance to get back to that more offensive role and thus its plausible to see him back on his offwing.

 

That being said, depth wise, it is better to have size on both wings so time will tell what they do with him. I agree he's being played as a RW but don't forget he was a LW in junior where he was potting alot of goals!

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aGENT Canucks Hall-of-Famer

aGENT

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16 minutes ago, BoeserSnipe said:

That's a hell of a team if the young prospects can reach those levels of play! I like, but I'd like to see Labate/Dowd on the 4th line. Lockwood is a maybe to make the NHL and if he does his role is likely a 3rd liner who can swing up to a 2W if required. I see him as depth if he even makes it.

 

Love that first line, and would still like to see Granny around - He reminds me alot of Hansen - less physical but does all the same things Hansen did just as well, and has slightly better hands.

Yeah, not hung up on Lockwood there. Could be any number of prospects or a UFA etc. Just a 'what if'. 

 

I like Granlund (and Dowd etc) too but I doubt we'll see many/any of them here long term. Again, it's just a spitball though, some guys will/won't make it, get traded etc. 

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Locke Lamora Canucks Regular

Locke Lamora

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I've always been in the "let's be patient" camp with Virtanen. I still remain optimistic that he can develop into a valuable player for the Canucks. The draft is a NOT a science...I get it.

 

However, I've been watching the Flames/Jets game on HNIC and every time Ehlers is on the ice I feel a bit wistful. One of the commentators made a comparison between Ehlers and Pavel Bure in terms of style. It's not an entirely ridiculous statement. Human nature being what it is, I can't help imagine that kid playing for us.

 

I think I'm entitled to these feelings while still being a Virtanen supporter. 

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Alflives Canucks Hall-of-Famer

Alflives

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3 hours ago, rekker said:

Still rooting for the kid. I still think his best spot may be on the left side with Bo. Or maybe EP down the road.

Jake is ABSOLUTELY a more effective offensive player on the left side.  I don’t get the desire of the Canucks to force Jake to play away from his strength?  Give Jake the freedom to use his speed, and natural aggression.  

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Alflives Canucks Hall-of-Famer

Alflives

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Just now, Locke Lamora said:

I've always been in the "let's be patient" camp with Virtanen. I still remain optimistic that he can develop into a valuable player for the Canucks. The draft is a NOT a science...I get it.

 

However, I've been watching the Flames/Jets game on HNIC and every time Ehlers is on the ice I feel a bit wistful. One of the commentators made a comparison between Ehlers and Pavel Bure in terms of style. It's not an entirely ridiculous statement. Human nature being what it is, I can't help imagine that kid playing for us.

 

I think I'm entitled to these feelings while still being a Virtanen supporter. 

Ehlers and Bure are similar?  :lol::lol::lol:

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Alflives Canucks Hall-of-Famer

Alflives

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9 minutes ago, Locke Lamora said:

Well, whoever is doing the colour commentary on the game brought up the comparison - it's not something I ever considered. This comment was made right after an end to end rush by Ehlers that certainly looked Bure-ish to me. ;)

Ehlers is a punk and a little pipsqueak puke.  :sick:

This is a Canuck’s Board, not a Jet’s one.  Aren’t we supposed to hate the other teams?  I suppose Matthew Tkatchuk (another little puke) reminds you of Trevor Linden?  

I accept other teams are better than us, and have better players, but do we need to rub it into our faces on Canuck’s Dot Com?  Isn’t there a Jet’s Dot Com?  

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Silky mitts Canucks First-Line

Silky mitts

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4 hours ago, Alflives said:

Jake is ABSOLUTELY a more effective offensive player on the left side.  I don’t get the desire of the Canucks to force Jake to play away from his strength?  Give Jake the freedom to use his speed, and natural aggression.  

Baffling how they don’t , just as bad as not using him on overtime 

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-AJ- Canucks Hall-of-Famer

-AJ-

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43 minutes ago, N4ZZY said:

How's Jake doing tonight? From some of the tweets out there from Blake and Botch, he doesn't seem to be having a good night. True? 

 

He seemed kinda average to me. Didn't have too much of an impact, but wasn't brutal.

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KKnight Canucks Rookie

KKnight

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41 minutes ago, N4ZZY said:

How's Jake doing tonight? From some of the tweets out there from Blake and Botch, he doesn't seem to be having a good night. True? 

 

I watched him specifically on his shifts, he made some mistakes, took a penalty, but to say he didn't have a good night is Blake and Botch being typical Blake and Botch. From what i noticed he's getting good at pickpocketing D. I still think Jake is going to be a good player. Would i rather have Ehlers?? Yes, but Jake has all the tools to be an absolute force and his hockey IQ is getting a lot better than what i saw last year. 

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