Goat James Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 So, hindsight is always 20/20, but I thinks it's weird that this hasn't been discussed more. Benning was super successful in the 2014 draft; Jared McCann, Nikita Tryamkin and Jake Virtanen have all played NHL games and Thatcher Demko looks like he'll be a starter in the NHL sooner rather than later. But I do feel like we went the wrong way with our number 6 overall selection. Benning chose grit and physicality over speed and skill when drafting Jake Virtanen over someone like William Nylander, and while Jake is no brain-dead goon, there's no denying that Nylander has a higher offensive skill ceiling than Jake does. Drafting smallish skilled players is risky business, just look at Jordan Schroeder, so I understand why Benning chose to go with the safer choice in Virtanen. But even so, I feel that this should be discussed more often. Jake has now scored 13 points in 55 NHL games, Nylander has scored more points (15) in less than half the games (23) and looks like a lock to become a top 6 player in the not too distant future. To sum it up: Benning should have gambled and taken William Nylander over Jake in the 2014 draft. Flame away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hectic Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 I agree with you, Ehlers and Larkin are also good examples of other players that were available at 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustABandwagoner Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 2 minutes ago, Hectic said: I agree with you, Ehlers and Larkin are also good examples of other players that were available at 6 I think Larkin was a surprise to alot of people Ehlers and Nylander not so much. I remember some guy named snyper pushing for Ehlers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hectic Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 yeah Larkin was a surprise, so that's not the best argument. Ehlers and Nylander went right after Virtanen but you knew they were going to take Jake considering he's from here.. time will tell but Nylander and Ehlers are both new generation NHLers and are both going to have solid careers as top 6 F's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RRypien37 Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 Although I do think Virtanen has potential, I think his physical attributes and the fact that he was a local kid blinded JB a bit. I think it was mostly unanimous that there were a few better options at #6 at the time. Most of CDC along with TSN panel, other experts all had similar opinions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saucypass Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 DISCLAIMER: I wish Virtanen to come out on top as the best pick at 6th in the 2014 draft when it's all said and done. I also support him since he's a Canuck. I hate saying that picking Jake was the wrong pick because everybody in the draft class is still young and haven't reached their potential yet. Not to mention he's a Canuck, and I'm a Canuck fan first and foremost. Not to mention, I'd hate for anybody on this board and get negative ratings or bash on me for saying so. However, hindsight in this situation was NOT 20/20. Picking Nylander and Ehlers was my first choice, I'd even go as far as to say that I even saw that Larkin would've been a better pick. Only reason I didn't advocate for him more was because of Nylander and Ehlers. I liked Fabbri and Milano as picks too at that time too. What WAS hindsight for me is Sanheim for sure. I had no idea this kid was going to be so good. I also didn't know whether Fabbri would've been able to translate his points either, but his playoff run last season seems to wash away my doubts. I remember all this talk about Jake being a good playoff performer, but he's never had any good playoff numbers. If you want to talk about regular season numbers taking a dive not translating into the playoffs, talk about Jake. Anyways, he's still a Canuck and I still not only support him but wish he comes out as the best player of the draft. Though I highly doubt he will. Here's to Jake making me eat my words. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saucypass Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 8 minutes ago, DontMessMe said: I think Larkin was a surprise to alot of people Ehlers and Nylander not so much. I remember some guy named snyper pushing for Ehlers 7 minutes ago, Hectic said: yeah Larkin was a surprise, so that's not the best argument. Ehlers and Nylander went right after Virtanen but you knew they were going to take Jake considering he's from here.. time will tell but Nylander and Ehlers are both new generation NHLers and are both going to have solid careers as top 6 F's I don't know if I'd say Larkin was a surprise. I don't know about you, but I remember thinking about Larkin at the 6th overall pick. Only reason why I didn't advocate more for him was because of Nylander and Ehlers being the two players, as well as the fact that we had a lot of two-way centers in our system and was sick of drafting another. Not to mention, knowing the Canucks, I don't think they would've given Larkin nearly as much offensive freedom as the Redwings did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cripplereh Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 wow most power forwards take longer to become true NHL players so this thread means nothing for another three years or so! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hearditall Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 12 minutes ago, suitup said: I don't know if I'd say Larkin was a surprise. I don't know about you, but I remember thinking about Larkin at the 6th overall pick. Only reason why I didn't advocate more for him was because of Nylander and Ehlers being the two players, as well as the fact that we had a lot of two-way centers in our system and was sick of drafting another. Not to mention, knowing the Canucks, I don't think they would've given Larkin nearly as much offensive freedom as the Redwings did. U should be GM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saucypass Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 Just now, hearditall said: U should be GM Thanks for the sarcastic remark. But it's not like was the only one who saw his potential and was high on Larkin. Unfortunately I'm no genius, but I like reading insights from people who are and watching those prospects play afterwards. If people paid attention to NCAA players, they would not have seen this as hindsight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saucypass Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 I also thought/think Fiala was a good pick for consideration too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dank.sinatra Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 I was extremely frustrated/disappointed when they picked Virtanen over Nylander or Ehlers. I've been hoping Virt proves me wrong ever since but right now it looks like at best he'll develop much slower than the others in his draft class. He still very well could end up being a first line guy though it's just probably gonna take a while. At worst it looks like we drafted Raffi Torres 2.0 over two future top line players. To be honest Jake scares me a lot, he scares with his commitment, conditioning, and drive. I just don't notice enough effort from him to believe he will one day become the 30+ goal scorer we all want him to be. What really bugged me is that we had and still have an organizational need for a top line, offensive center, which Nylander may end up being. Nylander - Boeser could've been a great duo to shape the post Sedin first line around. Didn't like the pick then and I still don't. I do like Jake though and am hoping he has changed my mind 3 years from now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NHL'er Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 Could have been worse. At least we didn't pick up MDC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hearditall Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 9 minutes ago, suitup said: Thanks for the sarcastic remark. But it's not like was the only one who saw his potential and was high on Larkin. Unfortunately I'm no genius, but I like reading insights from people who are and watching those prospects play afterwards. If people paid attention to NCAA players, they would not have seen this as hindsight. Boeser Demko Stecher Garteig hutton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iinatcc Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 37 minutes ago, DontMessMe said: I think Larkin was a surprise to alot of people Ehlers and Nylander not so much. I remember some guy named snyper pushing for Ehlers Considering Ehlers and Nylander have produced consistently at the NHL level offensively unless Jake starts to step up, this could be a disappointing pick. And it's just hindsight either there were talks about Ehlers and Nylander being better options with Virtanen especially when the knock against Virtanen during his draft year was his hockey sense. At the time getting Larkin at #6 wasn't discussed so we can't fault Benning on this one. But Ehlers and Nylander might be another story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saucypass Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 Just now, hearditall said: Boeser Demko Stecher Garteig What is your point? I'm honestly not sure what you're implying with this very vague post. You just listed these players but have you seen them play? Did you know these players are as good as they are? What other NCAA players are you familiar with? Larkin at 6th wasn't an obvious choice, but if it wasn't for all the Ehlers, Nylander, or even Ritchie talk, Larkin definitely should've been up there. Just because a player wasn't familiar to you doesn't mean it wasn't to others. After seeing what Larkin did, Connor having the season that he did was not surprising either. However, I AM surprised Boeser had the season he had. I knew he was top 15 in the draft good, didn't know he was going to be so dominant though. i wish I DID see that in him before hindsight. Amazing player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 It's very easy to compare Virtanen's offensive contributions to Nylander's and say it was the wrong pick - but you have to consider that Jake has played almost exclusively on the 3rd/4th lines, whereas Nylander has been given a top 6 role on a team even more starved of scoring talent than us (until Matthews came along). Nylander has had much more opportunity to contribute offensively, compared to Jake who is being given a thorough grounding in what it takes to become a hard-nosed competitor. You can't compare these two after 1.01 seasons. Give it 5 years, then you can judge. But considering Jake's skillset as a prototypical power forward, you can bet your bottom dollar that as the years go by, that gap between the two is going to close. Also, Nylander is going to score tons by default, playing on a line with Matthews. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuckpuckluck1 Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 Posted July 8, 2014 · Report post Was hoping someone would put together a thread like this. This will allow a few of us fans a little redemption when we refer back to our choices. I'll have a stab here and in a few years I hope I am bang on for my choices. 6th = Ehlers ( size is an issue but I like the potential) 24th= McCann ( I think this is a very good pick) 36th= McKeown 50th= Dougherty ( would not have made the trade for Vey) 66th= Glover 126th= Forsling ( I'm happy with this pick) 156th= Mathew Mistele 186th= Edgars Kulda Well it's locked in and I am looking forward to seeing how these prospects progress. This is what i had to say in July 2014, and i still stand by it, although i hope Jake is a monster and proves me completely wrong. I didn't like the Vey trade and it would be awesome if Firstling was still in the system, but thats hockey. I will note I made a huge error not picking Demko at 36, as he is looking pretty darn good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeltaSwede Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 A little too soon to evaluate this. Right now you're right, it's looking like Nylander and Ehlers would have been better picks. All players haven't finished developing though so it's a bit pointless calling it a mistake in picking Jake. He's got a ton of potential. Ask again in 5 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Realtor Rod Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 1 hour ago, The Game said: So, hindsight is always 20/20, but I thinks it's weird that this hasn't been discussed more. Benning was super successful in the 2014 draft; Jared McCann, Nikita Tryamkin and Jake Virtanen have all played NHL games and Thatcher Demko looks like he'll be a starter in the NHL sooner rather than later. But I do feel like we went the wrong way with our number 6 overall selection. Benning chose grit and physicality over speed and skill when drafting Jake Virtanen over someone like William Nylander, and while Jake is no brain-dead goon, there's no denying that Nylander has a higher offensive skill ceiling than Jake does. Drafting smallish skilled players is risky business, just look at Jordan Schroeder, so I understand why Benning chose to go with the safer choice in Virtanen. But even so, I feel that this should be discussed more often. Jake has now scored 13 points in 55 NHL games, Nylander has scored more points (15) in less than half the games (23) and looks like a lock to become a top 6 player in the not too distant future. To sum it up: Benning should have gambled and taken William Nylander over Jake in the 2014 draft. Flame away. None of them have accomplished a single thing yet. Lets see when its over. Since you have the thread title as vs, Jake kicks Nylanders @$$ and likely could destroy Ehlers and Nylander at the same time. Octagon it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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