hockeydude474 Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 Before you think i'm trolling here, TSN analyst Ray Ferraro has made the bold prediction that Virtanen is going to be Hansen in the future, abiet with less offensive potential. Seems very pessimistic but perhaps he's on to something. What do you all think? Does this upset you? Do you think he has a point? Does Virtanen play a game that simply will not translate into great offensive numbers at the NHL level? You can listen to him here: http://www.tsn.ca/radio/vancouver-1040-i-1410/ferraro-virtanen-is-jannik-hansen-1.419742 Discuss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
messier's_elbow Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 I like Ray but his word isn't gospel. Jake is too young to pin a label on. What did Ferraro think of Bertuzzi before he blossomed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N4ZZY Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 5 minutes ago, messier's_elbow said: I like Ray but his word isn't gospel. Jake is too young to pin a label on. What did Ferraro think of Bertuzzi before he blossomed. It's true. I like Ray as well when he speaks. But his word isn't God's. LOL. Virtanen has time on his side, and a lot to prove in the next 2-3 years. There will be pressure on him for sure to perform offensively. At worse, he becomes a middle nine forward for the franchise. Raffi Torres is worse case scenario, but I hope he becomes more than that. much more! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jägermeister Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 I said it before we drafted him, I said it when we drafted him, and I will continue to say it until he proves me otherwise (which looks less likely as time goes on). He's just like Raffi Torres. He can skate, he has a heavy shot, he can throw a hard hit, but he just does not have the hockey IQ to put it all together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Biestra Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 6th overall pick for a Hansen with less offensive output? Yikes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pears Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 Yea...terrible prediction by Ferraro there...Jake will easily be a better player than Hansen and he's already shown flashes of brilliance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stonecoldstevebernier Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 Ray's one of my favourite people interviews to listen to on the radio, and he's a way better analyst than any of us regular fans. So I can see the logic in his assessment to some extent. One thing he brought up in the clip is that Virtanen still has this mentality leftover from junior where he thinks he can bull his way to the net through everybody and score, and he lacks a playmaking vision. But I'm not sure that shows a lack of awareness so much as a sign that Virtanen still needs to unlearn some of his junior habits to play effectively at this level. He's only 19, there's a long way for him to go as far as his development is concerned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Honky Cat Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 That's not flattering at all..IMO...That's not the kind of player that he's projected to be...We know for starters that he does not have 'hands of stone' and he has a great wrist shot. Anyway,it's just an opinion,and there's lots of those flying around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Sestito Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 4 minutes ago, Pears said: Yea...terrible prediction by Ferraro there...Jake will easily be a better player than Hansen and he's already shown flashes of brilliance. Seems like a rep post. Flashes of brilliance? He's had maybe, three games where he's shown flashes of being a top six forward. Specifically the one game against Philadelphia, where you could just feel he was going to score because he was totally involved in all areas of the game. He's had a large majority of games where he looks so ineffective, and because of this, his top end potential is probably what Chris Kreider is. And that's fine, because I've said since the start that I'll take a Chris Kreider out of Virtanen instantly because I think it's a 50/50 shot that he even reaches that level. That's why I take issue with your post; you're proclaiming that he will be at that level minimum which is funny to me. Hansen's had like one visually bad season, and even in that season, he produced at a good level for a 3rd liner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WHL rocks Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 27 minutes ago, Jägermeister said: I said it before we drafted him, I said it when we drafted him, and I will continue to say it until he proves me otherwise (which looks less likely as time goes on). He's just like Raffi Torres. He can skate, he has a heavy shot, he can throw a hard hit, but he just does not have the hockey IQ to put it all together. I think i've read your post saying this and I don't think it's a bad thing if he can be a Torres. I've said before that I'd be happy if Virtanen becomes a 20 goal scoring 2nd liner. Raffi Torres was a 5th overall pick and he hit 20 goals cpl of times and got close to 20 a cpl more times. If Jake becomes a 20 goal guy 4 years from now I think we'll all be pretty happy. Not every top pick is going to be a star player. Problem with CDC is many on here think you can suck for 2 years, get 2 top 5 picks and the next year be contenders. It may be very young fans who mostly post that type of crap but many established posters believe the same thing. Ferraro wants the Canucks to send JV back and develop him properly, he's been on that quite a bit. I fully agree with him. He needs to go to juniors and then to Utica next year and hopefully he develops into a 20 goal man for us in a few years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WHL rocks Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 24 minutes ago, Pears said: Yea...terrible prediction by Ferraro there...Jake will easily be a better player than Hansen and he's already shown flashes of brilliance. Virtanen has not shown 1 flash of brilliance that i've see, let alone multiple flashes of brilliance. He's had a couple of good game but no brilliance that I've noticed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattrek Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 27 minutes ago, Jägermeister said: I said it before we drafted him, I said it when we drafted him, and I will continue to say it until he proves me otherwise (which looks less likely as time goes on). He's just like Raffi Torres. He can skate, he has a heavy shot, he can throw a hard hit, but he just does not have the hockey IQ to put it all together. He's 19 years old for god's sake and yet you're already writing him off saying he doesn't have the right hockey IQ? This is his first NHL season. Do you remember the Sedins first seasons? Players take time to adjust and learn to play in the NHL. He needs a good 2-3 years playing before we'll know anything about where he's headed. This is WAY too early to make any statement of where he's going to end up for us. Good grief. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xereau Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 Ferraro is just another meme spouting parrot jumping on the vitriolic bandwagon! The media hates the Canucks. Virtanen's performance at the WJC merely re-upped their addiction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intoewsables Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 3 minutes ago, Mattrek said: He's 19 years old for god's sake and yet you're already writing him off saying he doesn't have the right hockey IQ? This is his first NHL season. Do you remember the Sedins first seasons? Players take time to adjust and learn to play in the NHL. He needs a good 2-3 years playing before we'll know anything about where he's headed. This is WAY too early to make any statement of where he's going to end up for us. Good grief. I don't think anyone questioned the Sedins' hockey IQ when they were 19... Not the best comparable. Being able to anticipate the play at a high level is typically something that you either have or don't have, and not really the kind of 'skill' that develops over time, but I guess we'll see. I keep hearing Chris Kreider as a comparable for Virtanen, and I think this is the one I like the most. Not really the kind of player you'd hope for with a 6th overall pick, but a good player nonetheless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Positive Canuck Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 Ray Ferraro. His son's on the Bruins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kazmanian Devil Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 6 minutes ago, xereau said: Ferraro is just another meme spouting parrot jumping on the vitriolic bandwagon! The media hates the Canucks. Virtanen's performance at the WJC merely re-upped their addiction. when I think of memes Ray Ferraro is the first name that comes to mind Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeefcakeBo Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 He actually isn't really wrong. Virtanen has never shown a really complete offensive game. His high draft ranking was weighed heavily on his skating ability and physical play. He hasn't put up numbers that are that impressive in junior or been that dominant offensively there either. he isn't likely to turn that into top line material, although I think it would be a little premature to peg him as low as Hansen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkyfresh Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 Forget his lack of vision and hockey IQ, if Virtanen can play with Hansen's intensity, he's going to be tough to stop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeremyCuddles Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 Hansen with less offensive potential? Kind of a slap in the face given Hansen didn't have much offensive potential to begin with. Although I do think he is good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WHL rocks Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 9 minutes ago, Mattrek said: He's 19 years old for god's sake and yet you're already writing him off saying he doesn't have the right hockey IQ? This is his first NHL season. Do you remember the Sedins first seasons? Players take time to adjust and learn to play in the NHL. He needs a good 2-3 years playing before we'll know anything about where he's headed. This is WAY too early to make any statement of where he's going to end up for us. Good grief. Sedins had tremendous hockey IQ at that age, Sedins' problem was they didn't have the strength to compete in the NHL. They were rushed to the NHL by Burke to sell tickets, kinda what JB is doing with Virtanen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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