CanucksFanTillDeath1995

Can anyone actually justify Benning throwing the kid back into the NHL at this point? https://twitter.com/benkuzma/status/683756166724255745?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Willie just admitted to rushing players, Jake needs to go back to junior and rebuild his confidence after having a shocking tournament.

Virtanen was great until he decided to be dumb. He was great.

Marner tied the game twice. He didn't nulify a potential 5 on 3 like Virtanen did the take 2 more dumb penalties.

How can anyone defend the guy after this game? How?

Virtanen just cost us the tournament.

Terrific post. Tried to argue many of the same things with people here and they continue to bash. It is extremely clear that picking Virtanen at 6 was a marketing ploy and he was nowhere near the BPA at the time. The best thing we can hope for is Virtanen to start to turn things around and maybe become a 2nd line winger, but it doesn't look pretty at this point.

Im a Canucks fan and always will be. Watch how he plays. Very low IQ, many posters here have also conceded that fact. Take off the Homer hat and watch Virtanen play. He is not a smart hockey player

Are you referring to Dustin Brown or Lucic? Those are the only 2 players I can think of. Brown and Lucic were never integral in Boston and LA cup runs. For the Kings, it was Doughty, Quick, Kopitar, Carter, Gaborik (2nd cup) For the Bruins it was Bergeron, Krejci, Chara, Rask/Thomas. At least imo, Virtanen types are not critical to success

In terms of play style. Chicago does not have a player that plays a low IQ, north south game like Virtanen. Look at all of Chicago's key players. Kane, Toews, Keith, Seabrook, Crawford, Hossa None play like Virtanen. They do however play like Nylander. Who is to say you need a Virtanen to win in the playoffs? From what I have seen Kane/Toews/Doughty win cups. Virtanen types do not.

So we are not allowed to criticize our draft choices? Get a grip. And does Chicago have a Virtanen? I don't think so. They have a Kane though, who is like Nylander/Ehlers and a Toews who is like Larkin.

How many excuses are made up for this guy? He has a bad season in the WHL? "Well, he is not being used properly by the Hitmen coach" He has a bad run with Utica "He needs time to adjust to the AHL" He has a bad start to his NHL career "Well he is not put in a position to succeed and he needs time to adjust" He has a bad WJC "Well who cares about WJC performance? All that matters is that he is gonna turn it around, I know it! He is a local kid and skates fast (not anymore) and hits! (not anymore)" What a joke.

And I agree with you, but nothing Virtanen has done since he got drafted shows that he is progressing. Just watch the games. He is slow, takes terrible penalties, has a terrible shot, handles the puck like a grenade. He is a bigger version of Grabner. Nylander on the other hand is on pace to break AHL scoring records for a 19 year old. Higher than Spezza, Bergeron, heck the pace he is scoring at is similar to when Taylor Hall went down to the AHL. He outscored the Sedin's pace in the SHL. He is an elite talent and he was ranked 1st in July 2013 (Yes, ahead of Ekblad, Reinhart, etc) and 3rd overall during his draft year. He was nowhere near a reach at 6.

The problem is that he has regressed since we draft him. If Virtanen had progressed since we drafted, MAYBE this pick would be defendable. And even McCann at 6 is bad. Nylander and Larkin were still on the board.

I expected a 6th overall pick who was in the NHL to come to a kid's tournament and be Canada's best player....you are right thats hardly expecting anything.

Pujuljialvi, Laine, and Nylander have all been terrific

I said it in the summer and got blasted for it right here in this thread. Virtanen is nowhere near worth a 6th overall pick not even close, if you continue to defend him at this point you are a big time Homer. It is time to stop defending him and time for him to actually start playing well. He has played bad since he drafted him. He should be dominating this tournament, he should be Canada's best player, yet he is nowhere close

I would agree with this. I do not have the expectation of Virtanen becoming an Iginla, or an elite scorer. He will be a terrific player, that does well in many facets of the game. 25/25 in his prime is a reasonable prediction imo. Chris Kreider clone.

All I posted the picture for was to show he is not thin or skinny anymore. If you looked at him last year he was a toothpick, especially at the combine. Nothing like Jake at all. But Nylander put in a lot of work, he has some meat on there now. Virtanen will always be a far more physically dominant player, he is built like a truck, but i think Nylander is far from soft as some posters here put it. He battles in corners hard.

I suggested the same thing and got blasted on here. I see Jake hitting 25 goals in his prime, 25 assists. You win cups with guys like him. But you do NOT build franchises around guys like Virtanen. They are a complementary piece.

He measured into Leafs camp at just over 190 pounds and 6'0.

This is a recent picture of Nylander I have a hard time believing that is "thin" or small. He looks pretty big there, especially for his height.

In terms of SIZE. A perfectly valid comparison, not in terms of talent.

This is a terrible post, sorry. Nylander is 6'0 190, no way thats considered small. He is as big as Crosby and bigger than Giroux, look at how those two panned out. And soft? Did you see his goal the other day? Drove the net hard and put it in the back of the net. Nylander put up record breaking numbers in his draft+1 year. It was a good year for him. Ehlers is also a very good prospect, lets hope Jake turns up this year.

We should have drafted Nylander, but nothing you can do now. No point in continually comparing them. I really thought Jake turned the corner after the OT winner, but it just seems he is on one game, off the next 2. He really needs to work on his consistency. We know the hitting and speed is there, but I don't see the offensive upside here. He was also caught out on the 1-0 goal which was disappointing apart from being invisible the entire game. Not a good sign, especially after the season he had last year. On the bright side McCann looked amazing. Top 6 potential for sure. Can't wait to see him play in the pros, definitely got a steal there.

For the love of God please send him back to the WHL. He has NHL speed and physicality but that is about it. He would really benefit from gaining some confidence working on his accuracy back in junior. If he can get his accuracy back to what it was in his draft year, then he is ready for the NHL but as of now, he floats a bit too much for my liking and does not have an NHL quality shot. He is nowhere close to where Horvat was in his draft +1, maybe another year in junior can help him get back on track.