Smashian Kassian Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 I agree with your concerns with his playmaking ability. I'd be interested if anyone here who frequents Hitmen games could lend some insight into Virtanen's playmaking abilities? In particular does he like to carry the puck at all through the neutral zone? I saw this (and other posts like this) on HF citing his offense comes off the rush, and he isn't great at creating his own offense otherwise, which is where the concern about playmaking ability & hockey IQ come in. Ive seen Jake quite a bit, and I have to agree with you all saying he is a dominant player. But one thing that grinds my gears is his inability to create offense off the cycle. Very strong kid, but doesn't use it nearly enough to win puck battles and control off the the wall. When he doesn't have the puck in the offensive zone he is almost always uninvolved in the high slot. He does play hard, but he doesn't play hard enough in the offensive zone, gives almost all of his effort between the blue lines to blow past guys. So basically my concern is that an alarming amount of his offense is created off the rush. Hasn't quite found his stride in the offensive zone yet. He is improving lately, but still has a ways to go. Also as in a conversation with an NHL Head Scout I mentioned how much he throws the body when he actually has the puck, he said "how many guys in the NHL do that? He will never be able to do that in the NHL." And another guy responded to him with this: Absolutely this, this is why you always come away dissatisfied after watching him play because you know his talent level is so high that this shouldn't be a problem in the first place.Even though Virtanen is posting up PPG numbers, his consistency and the numbers be could be posting up still do not warrant a top 10 prospect to me (if Jake solved these problems, he could easily have 80-90 points right now). http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/showthread.php?p=80413843#post80413843 His success comes from running through/going around guys off the rush, which will likely be limited in the NHL, which is where I have concerns about him. His game as it currently stands just doesn't seem like it will translate aswell as some other players might, but thats not to say he can't improve. you would think that over time and time in a more professional environment with pro skating coaches, systems gurus etc....that stuff can be taught. Also the school of hard knocks is a great learning tool. He seems like a bright kid and has qualities that are also already praised upon. First and foremost he loves to score and drive to the net and can shoot the puck and carry it thru people. With us at #6/7....Virtanen is at the top of my list of who I want us to pick. Im also cringing at the fact that I onow that Burke will pick him just to pi$$ us off Speakin of Burke....since Trev took over and Quinn coming back....I get the sense that Burke would live to be back in the band as well The thing about Virtanen though is, when your set in your ways its hard to change, like with someone like Kesler or Booth, you aren't suddenly going to change them and make them a playmaker, and I see Virtanen as that. I see him as someone who can score 25 goals & 40-50 points, but with a #6 or #7 overall I think we can get a better player. If we take Ehlers over home town boy Virtanen, Ritchie, and Virtanen turns in a poor mans Iginla, or Ritchie turns into Lucic 2.0... well id fear for poor Trevors safety. What if we take Virtanen or Ritchie over Ehlers, then Virtanen becomes Hansen, or Ritchie becomes Beniot Pouliot, while Ehlers becomes a poor mans P.Kane or Gaborik type player? Could go either way. For me we have big players, we need skill, thats why I'm looking to someone like Ehlers or Kapanen with an outside possibly of Ritchie (cause of his wrist shot) Smaller European skaters historically speaking drop down on draft day. He won't be a top 10 pick, possibly a 10-12 but highly unlikely. Both Kempe and Kapanen are safer pickers and as such are likely to go before Nylander. I am very curious to see how Nylander does at the combine. Kapanen sure (I'm hoping we get him, he or Ehlers) I highly doubt Kempe though. Is the 2014 suppose to be deep? I heard it's suppose to be a pretty weak draft compared to last year and the upcoming year. The top end talent is fine, but its not deep like last year, there is a drop off in talent after the 2nd or 3rd round I would say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smashian Kassian Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 My hope is MDC or Leon fall outside of the top 5 which they won't but wishful thinking Calgary goes off the board or something. If not we picked the wrong year to tank. Virtanen is a sniper who runs over guys I question his work ethic and passing skills. and Ehlers has all the skill and Talent but his size is an issue for a western conference team after that there's like nobody. Ehlers isn't that small. 5'11 right now, thats not to say he can't grow a bit though, then weight he's around 170 now probably, but again he could easily be at 180 by next season. Aside from him there are still other top end talents like Kapanen, Ritchie & Nylander. And for me Kapanen with his high end skill & work ethic is a great choice with that pick if we can't get MDC or the German. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merci Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 7th clinched, do we get 6th? Perlini please, if not him, I say we go for Ehlers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junkyard Dog Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 What about 4th? Also depends what teams are looking for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R3aL Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 7th clinched, do we get 6th? Perlini please, if not him, I say we go for Ehlers If we lose against calgary we will be guaranteed 6th pick unless a team behind us wins the lotto. If we win tomorrow and Carolina loses we pick 7th. Carolina has 4 more ROW then us so they have the tie breaker.. Either cheer for Calgary, or Carolina, or hell why not BOTH! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustABandwagoner Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 MDC, Leon Drasitil (german dude), or Ehlers plz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salmonberries Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 7th clinched, do we get 6th? Perlini please, if not him, I say we go for Ehlers I've wanted Perlini or Ehlers all along. Just wasn't sure we'd drop low enough for them. We still may not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junkyard Dog Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Ehlers isn't that small. 5'11 right now, thats not to say he can't grow a bit though, then weight he's around 170 now probably, but again he could easily be at 180 by next season. Aside from him there are still other top end talents like Kapanen, Ritchie & Nylander. And for my Kapanen with his high end skill & work ethic is a great choice with that pick if we can't get MDC or the German. Ehlers would need time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merci Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 I've wanted Perlini or Ehlers all along. Just wasn't sure we'd drop low enough for them. We still may not. If we drop to 7th there's a strong chance we get one of em. No way Bennett, or Drasaitl drops Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smashian Kassian Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Ehlers would need time. Yup but thats fine, its ending up with the best player, not who's ready soonest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnLocke Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Hypothetically speaking, if we win the lottery, who do we draft? Reinhart, Bennett? Or maybe even Ekblad?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R3aL Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Our odds at winning LOTTO 6th Pick --> 25th place: 6.2% Best Case7th Pick --> 24th place: 4.7% Worst Case We will be picking 6-->8th Barring the two games tom ours and carolinas, and then the Lotto of course. At worst we will pick 8th, most likley pick 6th, win the lotto we take: Ekblad. I had a dream Edmonton won the lotto... and hockey fanatics cross the world were outraged by them having 4 of the past 5 first overalls, there was another lockout.. people died was Cray lol including Bettman If somehow, somehow on GODs good green earth MDC slips to 6th to us I will cry sweet tears of joy sweet sweet tears.. Dal Colle Cassels Jensen Shinkaruk Horvat Kassian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merci Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 I want to draft Reinhart, but we need to draft Ekblad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bingo Chili Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Just dont go off the board with the pick! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junkyard Dog Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Hypothetically speaking, if we win the lottery, who do we draft? Reinhart, Bennett? Or maybe even Ekblad?? Reinhart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bingo Chili Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Hypothetically speaking, if we win the lottery, who do we draft? Reinhart, Bennett? Or maybe even Ekblad?? Ekblad - future franchise defenseman to replace canucks' aging top 4 defense Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junkyard Dog Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Do you guys think a team above us might trade down because they want Dman? Fleury being the next best Dman projected to go 6-12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smashian Kassian Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 I would try and trade down to 3 or 4 or 5 & pick up another good piece. Ekblad is the best player but we need FWD's, and I think we could get a high end one in Draisaitl or MDC aswell as another great young prospect through trade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R3aL Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Losing the Lotto but keeping our 6th pick the perfect draft day in my eyes would be: Starts with a trade which acquires another top ten pick With the 6th overall we are lucky that Florida or NYI or Calgary takes one of Nylander/Kapanen/Ehlers Leaving us with 1 of MDC or Leon Draisaitl Lets say MDC! With our next top 10 pick we take Virtanen. With our second rounder 36th overall we take Jack Glover I really really like Jack Glover think he will be a Beut in a couple years! Leave the top two rounds with: MDC, Virtanen, Glover Would be a great day! God im too excited for the draft Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junkyard Dog Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 I would try and trade down to 3 or 4 or 5 & pick up another good piece. Ekblad is the best player but we need FWD's, and I think we could get a high end one in Draisaitl or MDC aswell as another great young prospect through trade. If EDM loses out on Ekblad. Our 1st Hutton/Cederholm and our 2nd? EDM drafts Fleury and we would have Bennett or Reinhart fall to us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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