Odd.

More like Utica has strong depth up the center. O'reilly Will Acton Dustin Jeffrey more I can't think of atm. Gaunce has been playing really well and so Green is using him in the top 6. Many of you underrate his offensive game. He's been both offensively and defensively good.

The fact that I can't even find why Jake Virtanen got injured on the Calgary Hitmen's WHL website bothers me a little. I went to news section and it clicked on their recent game. It only said on the bottom of the page that Virtanen and a couple of people 'weren't' dressed. I don't know what they mean by that but It could be either a healthy scratch or an undisclosed injury. Or maybe it's just a maintenance day to help heal some pain that he had on his shoulder and that knee on knee collision he received in the first period of the wheat kings game. Let's hope this doesn't affect his game by hitting less to avoid getting injured.

Gaunce is has very good offensive skills. I'm glad he's thriving. And I'm hearing that he's playing on the wing? If that's the case, we could have him convert into a winger for us.

Damn. I found an article by the Calgary Sun about Virtanen. I don't know about you guys, but Jake Virtanen is getting the Ryan Getzlaf treatment by Hitmen fans. They think he's the real deal and he'll be the next Ryan Getzlaf or somewhat of a player like him. Jake Virtanen said that he models his game a little after Getzlaf. Getzlaf won gold in 2005, plays like a PWF, had a really good shot, and went passed defenders with ease. He has a really good attitude in the locker room, on ice and off ice as well. He's apparently also captain material which is great to see. Here is the article: http://www.calgarysun.com/2015/01/12/calgary-hitmen-forward-jake-virtanen-flattered-by-comparisons-to-for-hitmen-great-ryan-getzlaf Loving Virtanen by the minute!

I thought he had a pretty good game despite getting kneed late in the 1st period. Lets hope his apparent injury isn't so serious.

Brendan Gaunce with 2 assists so far vs the Adirondack Flames today.

Haven't seen him much today.

And you know what? I respect that you wanted Nylander. We all have different guys we wanted to get picked. I wanted either Nylander/Virtanen, and we got Virtanen. But for those that are telling you that "you are dumb" or "Nylander is a bust, his likely hood of making it is low" really need to smarten up a bit. If we drafted Nylander everyone would have been like "Nylander is speedy and skilled and he is going to be a good franchise center! Virtanen is a goon, takes bad penalties, and doesn't use his line-mates! BUST!" Both of the bold lines above are completely fake statements and anybody using them is just a silly person assuming things based on stats.

I know this is a Virtanen thread, and I love the Virtanen pick, but those saying Nylander sucks and that he's 'not the type of player a GM wants' just shows that you don't know anything about Nylander. Every GM likes a Nylander. Every GM likes a Virtanen. Both are top tier players that were taken top 10. They both have a huge likely hood of making the NHL. Both are solid picks. Toronto lacks a true top franchise center these years and they got one in Nylander. We got Virtanen, a young speedy, glaring shot, power forward with huge upside. He is more of an organizational need right now than Nylander. We have Henrik Sedin on our first line for a solid 3-4 years. But those that are saying Nylander is a bust and will not become an NHL player really need to stop assuming. Both are solid picks, both will become studs with the right development. Just wanted to clear that out.

I don't know any player that is named Marner in the Kootenay Ice team. However if you are talking about Mitchell Marner, he plays for the London Knights. I don't know how Marner is supposed to set up Virtanen on the PP when they both play in separate leagues.

Definitely. And I hope he gets traded outta Calgary. Seriously, he plays with two overagers. One is undrafted in Connor Rankin, and the other was a 3rd round pick(Adam Tambellini, who is actually decent). I hope he gets traded to the Kootenay Ice so he can play alongside his buddy Reinhart. Both could be a deadly combo. Or Kelowna Rockets and be reunited with Josh Morrisey, and Bowey. He does have a lot to work on, like any player, but I'm sure he will be fine. I don't know if he will make the team next year but he has a decent chance. I hope his development goes well and he adds weight a bit more weight to become even more stronger than he currently is.