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Why the Canucks should draft Jake Virtanen


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So is yours of saying we could use 2 Kassians; w/ Ritchie I'm assuming.

That would be an assumption. The point I was making is there isn't really any sound logic to the idea that

'we don't need player x because they are similar to player y'. If this team had two Zack Kassian's, they'd have two big, fast powerful players with great vision and tremendous playmaking abilities for a player of that ilk, who can also score some goals, and drop the odd Ben Eager when he thinks of taking a run at the Sedins.

I'm not a fan of the common habit people have of trying to reduce prospect to prototypes of an existing player. Ritchie = Kassian isn't really any more appealing than the nonsense that Virtanen is a better Kassian. Even if players were highly comparable, it would not be much of an argument for overlooking any of them.

Could a team use two Sedins? Yeah, probably.

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Tired of weak junk.

Tired of slow garbage.

This kid is elite-level fast, tough and can score highlight-reel goals. He's WAY better than Booth was as a prospect, so I laugh at that comparison. This 'he has no vision' mythology is false. He's not playing with the best teammates ever. Give him Drouin like Ehlers has the benefit of playing with and watch him dominate the CHL entirely. He's not a lightweight floater. He has WAY more legit NHL upside than those floater types. And he's not a total chunk like fatboy Ritchie. The best part is he's only just begun.

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Said it in February, we get a top 10 pick, best hope we get Virtanen plus he's a hometown boy. Won't be able to land the top 5 so if they go accordingly, Virtanen is who we should take without a doubt imo so it doesn't kick us in the butt if we don't in a few years.

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Virtanen undoubtedly has the best skating in this draft, and that's consensus among all scouting services. His shot is killer too, hell of a wrister with firepower to boot. He is also very physical in an already physical WHL, as he hits even while carrying the puck. He does all this at 17, nearly a year younger than his draft eligible counterparts. People try to limit this kids potential by comparing him to the minimal skill sets they know and minusing factors that Virtanen isn't great in. At this point I can't see a real knock, other than playmaking but not every player has every ability.

That is horse crap. Ehlers is way faster than Vitanen. Ehlers has been described by many as the fastest in two years. That includes MacKinnon.

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That is horse crap. Ehlers is way faster than Vitanen. Ehlers has been described by many as the fastest in two years. That includes MacKinnon.

While it's true that Ehlers is as fast as the breeze, he can also be knocked over by one. Pass.
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Not sure if anyone has seen this video, but it's Virtanen mic'd up at the Top Prospects game.

What I find impressive about him is that he's one of the youngest players in his draft class and won't turn 18 until August, yet he seems to have a leadership presence about him with the way he interacts with the players from various teams, and in return how they interact with him.

http://www.bmotopprospects.ca/video/index/id/264ad63f4ed296bd3e25a24ddc7a1257

At one point, Ehlers is standing right beside Virtanen and it surprised me that he didn't look out of place size wise.

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He is not worthy of a 6th overall pick.

He has a low level of hockey-IQ, not NHL (or let alone a high-level) calibre at any degree.

GREAT player, I love Virtanen, but I would only draft a finisher of his level at a pick of 9 - 15.

Nick Ritchie is NOT Zack Kassian.

Ritchie started out as a playmaker, working on his size and speed, and then as he grew in size, he learned to pick corners with more shots that he would take at the net. He learned that shooting with accuracy is just as important as feeding the puck to players like MacKinnon and Drouin at the U18s. When he reached the OHL level, they directed him to play a gritty, Milan Lucic-style PWF game. He is big, mean, dominant, and undeniably skilled. Not that Kassian isn't, but Kassian was never considered to have top-5 skill.

If Ritchie had been healthy for the entirety of his junior and youth league career, he would be the top prospect in this year's draft. Concussion issues, and that shoulder injury bug have bogged him down in the rankings as an injury prone player with a high-risk, ENORMOUS-reward factor.

Injury prone is the word for not worth it

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