asian player

With Kassian, Jensen, Vey and Burrows fighting for that spot, it seems unlikely

He was caught out of position at times. With his size and athleticism, he can play deeper in the net. He was good, but wasn't perfect back there. There were a few shaky moments. He did enough to give his team a chance. I think he'll be better as they go deeper into the tournament

expansion!

He'll probably get to play with Strome in the WJC next year. Let him play his role and soak in the experience this year.

There's no concern to what he brings as a player. The only concern is his $4.5 million cap hit

Yup, Bob really knows his stuff so it's always nice when he praises any Canuck

I thought Ritchie played well. Virtanen can probably compliment Mcdavid better though

Is there any particular reason? Because a big body down the middle with good IQ sounds perfect

What an 18 year old did vs what an overager did. Not a brilliant comparison

If this keeps up, he can follow the development path of Couturier. I believe Couts played 14 minutes per game in his rookie year

I'd easily trade Jensen before trading Gaunce.

I would've put him on for the shootout

I don't like seeing him play 9 minutes a night. Send him back to London, let him light it up, improve on certain areas, and play in the WJC

I don't think there was much room in Utica for Cederholm. Also, there's a good program down in Portland so he can take some time, learning and solidifying his game

Mark the Messiah

Virtanen wasn't my first choice either but this is getting ridiculous. What's not to like about a guy who can shoot, skate, and hit like a truck? Nylander's good but he probably won't be able to compete with the big centers out here in the west.

Even if he doesn't develop much of an offensive game, if he plays some strong defense, his size, skating, and physicality can create problems for other teams

Virtanen wasn't on the board when it was time for the leafs to pick so what's your point? Virtanen's shot is not that much better than Ritchie's and Ritchie's hockey sense is quite a bit better than Virtanen's. He is the kind of player the Leafs need

Krejci - 2nd round pick Bergeron - 2nd round pick Why are you eliminating the possibility of Mccann being a 1st line center? We need tough, rugged centers to win nowadays. Nylander is good, but doesn't provide what we need right now. And you're right, Downunda, defense can be taught. Virtanen was the hardest shooter, best skater, and most physical player of his draft class. Once he rounds out his game, he'll be lethal. And don't forget, we weren't exactly drowning in center depth, and we still aren't

The prospects game was just a showmatch where he probably didn't try too hard. Horvat is in a professional league

I never watched any of the games so does anybody know if he played well enough to justify not getting points? And why didn't he get any points?