Why the Canucks should draft Jake Virtanen

[Merci]

He's right actualy....

All that Tommy Lee Jones picture does is make you look like an ass. You and BanTSN will make up any damn myth you very well please if you don't like a certain prospect. That's not how it works in the real world. You have to face the true facts, not believe what you want to believe.

LOL

[Merci]

You're taking this forum a bit too seriously son. If You're calling Ehlers tough and gritty than Ritchie is going to have better skating than Stamkos once he sheds his baby fat.

There is just no reason to call a 170lb player tough and gritty, yea people like Gallagher exist, he's literally 1 in a 1000

[*Buzzsaw*]

Of all the players in the top five, who are forwards, Bennett impresses me the most.

He is definitely a pivotal offensive player who a team could be built around. He's a Tavares type.

However he is small, and small could mean injury... either that or concern about the NHL hitting could render him ineffective.

Still if there is a chance the Canucks could draft him, they should.

I think that Sam Reinhart is more likely to be available, if the Canucks can throw in a sweetner to the team holding the higher draft.

Looking lower than the top 5, I am not impressed with Ritchie... seems too slow and although he has better passing skills than Virtanen, they aren't that good.

Virtanen is a straight ahead type of scorer the team needs... he looks like he could play on the 2nd line with Kassian given a year in the AHL.

Ehlers is another smurf.

[Merci]

Ritchie isn't slow at all, probably the top 20% in the OHL, will probably be the top 15% in the NHL when he gains some fitness.

Speed is the biggest weakness for big players, Ritchie has speed

[Smashian Kassian]

You're taking this forum a bit too seriously son. If You're calling Ehlers tough and gritty than Ritchie is going to have better skating than Stamkos once he sheds his baby fat.

There is just no reason to call a 170lb player tough and gritty, yea people like Gallagher exist, he's literally 1 in a 1000

Toughness isn't about dishing out punishment.

Toughness is your ability to take punishment. Ehlers can take big hits, get back but and score a big goal, he is tough.

He's not like Ryan Callahan gritty, but he's not soft either, he's gritty, he battles, doesn't shy away from the dirty areas and being engaged physically.

Toughess & grit have nothing to do with size its how you play, players like Mantha & Perlini are bigger than Ehlers, but I don't see them as gritty at all, Ehlers has more grit.

[Merci]

Toughness isn't about dishing out punishment.

Toughness is your ability to take punishment. Ehlers can take big hits, get back but and score a big goal, he is tough.

He's not like Ryan Callahan gritty, but he's not soft either, he's gritty, he battles, doesn't shy away from the dirty areas and being engaged physically.

Toughess & grit have nothing to do with size its how you play, players like Mantha & Perlini are bigger than Ehlers, but I don't see them as gritty at all, Ehlers has more grit.

I'll admit that one video you linked where Ehlers gets completely destroyed and gets right back up is kind of hilarious.

I think we would never agree on taking Ehlers over Ritchie at 6th but if we got the 10th I would definitely take Ehlers over Virtanen and most likely Perlini, but only because I feel the risk is worth it with the Sedins fading out.

I agree he's a better Ennis

[Smashian Kassian]

I'll admit that one video you linked where Ehlers gets completely destroyed and gets right back up is kind of hilarious.

I think we would never agree on taking Ehlers over Ritchie at 6th but if we got the 10th I would definitely take Ehlers over Virtanen and most likely Perlini, but only because I feel the risk is worth it with the Sedins fading out.

I agree he's a better Ennis

I didn't post the video, but I think that was a hit that would be suspended in the NHL as I said. The NHL has really become a no hitting league over the years, some of the hits people post about Ehlers getting hit hard (another one comes to mind with a guy completely charging Ehlers) would be penalties & possible suspensions, and that one in particular that your talking about, if that happened in the NHL the guy would end up like Seabrook with a suspension. (IMO)

I have no issues with Ritchie, he's my 2nd option as it stands now, but I like Ehlers superstar potential over him. Just me.

[TOMapleLaughs]

Wait, Ehlers has superstar potential? And he's tough and gritty too? LOL!

He's not scoring enough in the Q to even be close to superstar potential. Closer to 3ppg is required. He's like 1.25. And that's worse than Drouin, who's obviously helping him out.

But the tough and gritty part is laughable. He'll never be considered that when playing in the pros. He's just too small. Meaning too thin. His shoulder-to-shoulder is puny. He's a rake. And most kids like that grow up to be that. Sure, he won't like being knocked down often, but retaliating about that with his stick doesn't make him tough and gritty. There is literally nothing that makes him tough and gritty.

Meanwhile, Virtanen is. The W is closer to being a man's league than the Q and Jake at times dominates it as a 17yr old.

Lol. Superstar...

[canucks155]

I don't think he is the best pick. Considering our prospects I think if we can we should scoop up someone like Draisaitl instead. Sure his foot speed may be slow but he's got size and talent, plus Leon can also shoot. We have two decent young right wings in Jensen and Kass so we probably don't NEED Jake as much, and we have Shinkaruk who should have top-line upside on the left. Up the middle Horvat may top out as 2nd liner like Kes and Gaunce/ Cassels may be 3rd liners. I'd take Draisaitl or Dal Colle if either were still around or I'd pick an offensive center if Leon is gone.

Well no s*** Sherlock. Like I said in the post, I'll take anybody in the top 5 in a heartbeat (Ekblad, Reinhart, Bennett, Dal Colle, Draistail) None of those guys will fall to us...

[canucks155]

you must be 15

I don't see what that changes if I were.

[LeanBeef]

Booth as a prospect wasn't nearly as fast, physical or able to score as Virtanen, hence him being a late-2nd round talent. The comparison is off.

I meant that I could see Virtanen being a similar player Booth was in his prime; a solid straight line power player with a great shot.

[canucks155]

again i love how cdc'ers claim some kid in the ohl is sooo much better than a guy who's developed over three years and is an emerging power forward in the nhl

you people really are something

1. edler is an allstar - after one great year

2. edler sucks after one bad year

3. Horvat = bergeron - yet he's never played an nhl game

4. Lou rocks

5. Lou sucks

6. Trade schnieder

7. why did we trade schnieder

8. kesler is god

9. trade kesler

10. sedins are amazing

11. sedins suck

12. kassian is a bust

13. kassian is the man

ya know...it takes time for an ohl'er to make an impact in the nhl and even make it. suggesting some kid who didnt even play on team canada is somehow 'better' than kassian - well is just plain

RE TARD ED

moreover you may want to see how many players drafted even in the first round, ever stick in the nhl before you claim a kid who has never played vs men and in the nhl is somehow a better passer than kassian lol

see Kassian does it against pro's and is probably the second best on the NHL team beyond Henrik

lmao

retarded

Opinions change over time as players improve or decline. You know what else is retarded? Your proposal to Philly for Kesler. Might be the most one sided deal in the nhl in recent memory.

[DownUndaCanuck]

This team has ENOUGH size, we need SKILL. We had a single forward score over 20 goals last season which is a joke, and it's because this team is seriously lacking in offensive talent.

Looking ahead, we've got enough defensive-minded and physical forwards. We need to use this rare high pick and complement that will an offensive superstar. Right now, look at our breakdown:

Big physical top-6 powerforwards:

Kassian
Jensen

Good two-way defensive forwards:
Horvat

Gaunce

Purely offensive skilled forwards:

Shinkaruk

Fox

Considering the fact that our current team is pretty much full of used up powerforwards (Kesler, Higgins, Booth, Burrows, Hansen) and that our only skilled players (the Sedins) have ran out of offensive talent to produce at a high pace anymore, we need to fill that niche that the twins have left open, and that's with skill.

Draft Ehlers.

[R3aL]

Here's the 5 best prospects IMO for this draft, after the top 5, compared to our prospects in no order...

Nylander = Schroeder. A stretch to compare him to Nylander, but he plays like him minus the skill. I'll say he doesn't compare to anybody just because Schroeder hadn't lived up to expectations w. injuries, etc.

Ehlers = Shinkaruk . Both had ridiculous #'s they both put up prior to getting drafted and they're both speedy.

Perlini= Jensen. Similar size and play alike.

Ritchie = Kassian. Most obvious one. Play an identical game.

Virtanen = NOBODY. Flashes of a lot of our prospects in his game. Sort of like a more skilled Kassian or more physical Jensen.

One could argue that you could use many of the same players but I really don't see the point. If I were GM (which I'm obviously not) then I'd want a diverse team who can do it all. For the sake of this topic lets narrow it down to Nylander or Virtanen. I say we draft Virtanen because we've got good prospects down the middle w/ Horvat, Guance, Schroeder, Cassels, Fox, etc. Also, next year's draft has plenty of better centers than Nylander (McDavid, Eichel, Barazal, Konecny, Strome, etc) I wouldn't mind if we picked any of these 5 players or even if we got Hayden Fleury since we have a shallow dman prospect pool. At 6'1, 210Ibs, Virtanen can do it all. He had 71P in 71G w/ 100PIMS. He's played at the Ivan Hlinka tourney and is currently playing for Canada at the U18 thing (don't know the name). Not to mention that he's a BC boy. Here's what mynhldraft.com says about him:

• Speed – Big man speed with acceleration, agility, balance. Won the 30 metre sprint, backward and forward, at the CHL Top Prospects game.
• Shot – Big gun, quick finger, hits target, penetrates net.
• Power forward – Jake Virtanen has the size, skating, drive and physicality teams look for in a power forward – Jake is probably the purest power forward in the draft.
• Improvements to make – Should continue to work on using his teammates better, push for excellence in his defensive work and exert his physicality on a constant basis to win puck battles.

Virtanen is a heads-up player who thinks the game well and is willing to get his nose dirty. He has slick hands, a dynamic shot and a strong stride that makes him dangerous. He can be outright dominant at times offensively with his blend of size, skill and speed.

Sounds like a player I'd love to see wearing the blue and green...

Terrible comparisons to our prospects, those players are nothing like the ones we have now.

All your comparisons are bad but Nylander to schroeder takes the cake and gobbles it down.

First time I have ever liked one of SNYPERS posts, KASSIAN DOES NOT = RITCHIE, they are miles apart different in everything but size and JR team played on their draft year. You and anyone who says this did not watch them play.

Although I am in full support of drafting Virtanen, I want Ritchie or Him, our boards are really swaying in Virtanens favour lately, and I am starting to think so will Linden, he may want to take WHL players or lean towards them. I am not saying that would be a deciding factor I am just saying it could influence the draft direction.

The kid is still very RAW and if we pick him we better groom the hell out of the kid and turn him into an all around beauty, he does have corey perry potential in my eyes. But my same eyes see a mix of Rick Nash and Lucic in Ritchie so call me crazy!

The truth is they are very unique players and really do not compare to any player, they have intangibles and facets of their games that do compare to an assortment of players but overall their games are very unique and that remains true with all the top 10.

But comparing these players to our current prospects is crazy!

[BanTSN]

This team has ENOUGH size, we need SKILL. We had a single forward score over 20 goals last season which is a joke, and it's because this team is seriously lacking in offensive talent.

Looking ahead, we've got enough defensive-minded and physical forwards. We need to use this rare high pick and complement that will an offensive superstar. Right now, look at our breakdown:

Big physical top-6 powerforwards:

Kassian

Jensen

Good two-way defensive forwards:

Horvat

Gaunce

Purely offensive skilled forwards:

Shinkaruk

Fox

Considering the fact that our current team is pretty much full of used up powerforwards (Kesler, Higgins, Booth, Burrows, Hansen) and that our only skilled players (the Sedins) have ran out of offensive talent to produce at a high pace anymore, we need to fill that niche that the twins have left open, and that's with skill.

Draft Ehlers.

First of all, Virtanen has skill. A lot of it.

Ehlers is no replacement for the Sedins. Not by a long shot. That's like replacing hall of famers with Grabner and/or Schroeder and pretending it will work. It won't work. We'll turn into the softest team in the league bar none.

Tank for McDavid if you want real skill.

[CanucksSayEh]

Nichushkin was called a puck hog, and 1 trick pony........

[BanTSN]

Just hammered a huge slapper against the Swiss goalie on the power play. Guy's shot is top-notch.

[jimmyking8888]

I have a good feeling about Virtanen.

First reason: He was drafted 1st overall in the bantam draft. Junior GM are not stupid.

Second reason: Got good combination of size and speed. In the playoffs you need guys like that.

Third reason: Canadian Boy, Local BC boy. Will play his heart out for the Canucks.

[BanTSN]

Ritchie is an undisciplined penalty and injury-prone 20-goal kinda player who depends too much on his wrist shot. Won't translate to much beyond that in the NHL. Not an elite physical force like Lucic. Not much of an offensive threat beyond basic plays. Inconsistent. Takes too many lazy penalties. Not worth a 6th overall, even in a crap draft such as this. PASS.

I came up with the perfect comparison for Nick Ritchie: Guillaume Latendresse.

230lbs big. Injured. Skilled and effective in junior. Banged guys a lot. Didn't drop 'em a lot. Takes a lot of penalties. Good in junior playoffs.

Dominated in post-draft junior season, but injured. Came into the bigs and played physical enough, but it didn't translate into good offense or good all-round play. The physical play against men wore him down and since he already had an injury history, his NHL career was brief. Now in the Swiss league at age 26.

There is a very high probability that Ritchie will have a similar career path. A team will fall in love with his size and will use him in that role until he sustains a career-impacting injury and then he will be discarded.

Latendresse was a 45th overall pick in 2005, a much deeper draft, obviously, as Paul Stastny was picked just before him.

And people are considering this at 6th overall in 2014? This draft stinks.

[DefCon1]

Only thing Kass has over him is his size. Virtanen is the more all around player.

Virtanen is so hyped on these boards that it is beyond ridiculous. Kassian is much better than virtanen since he is already a top 6 in the NHL. Who knows if Virtnen even makes the NHL, nevermind being better than kassian.