BanTSN Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 Sorry; Virtanen does not have the highest upside. Look, a great pick. Not questioning that. Wicked shot, lots of speed and having a full size NHL body / NHL athleticism at 17 there is almost no risk he wont make it. Most guys need to develop NHL speed (see Horvat), endurance (Ritchie), or size (see Nylander or Shinkaruk). Many have more upside, but also pose a risk (see Schroeder) where they might not make it at all? But what you dont have is the slick puck possession and passing skills that give a guy 85 or 100 point potential. None of the guys drafted in 2014 have that potential. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BanTSN Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 booth was on a trajectory to be a very good NHL player until richards took his head off. Jake i think has a better shot that booth and hopefully more willingness to work on his game. I think its a pretty fair comparison. If your comparing him to booth of the last 3 years then heck no. But booth predecapitation was on the way to be a solid top6 forward if not topline winger. Virtanen is more likely to be delivering these type of hits than receiving. Big difference. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
messier's_elbow Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 Sorry; Virtanen does not have the highest upside. Look, a great pick. Not questioning that. Wicked shot, lots of speed and having a full size NHL body / NHL athleticism at 17 there is almost no risk he wont make it. Most guys need to develop NHL speed (see Horvat), endurance (Ritchie), or size (see Nylander or Shinkaruk). Many have more upside, but also pose a risk (see Schroeder) where they might not make it at all? But what you dont have is the slick puck possession and passing skills that give a guy 85 or 100 point potential. 85-100 points nowadays is a superstar. I think virtanens ceiling is 40 goals and 30 helpers. So around 70 points in his prime which I'll gladly take if I'm right. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
messier's_elbow Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 Virtanen is more likely to be delivering these type of hits than receiving. Big difference. I'm not liking the booth comparisons. Virtanens shot is already better and he is way meaner then the soft hearted Christian. The only things similar are they are both big and fast... Virtanen will be faster though as well. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robongo Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 I don't see why people are getting their panties all up in a bunch over the Booth comparison. I think it holds some water, except Virtanen probably has a bit higher of a ceiling due to his physicality and wicked shot. David Booth pre concussion with Jake's shot and physicality would be one hell of a player. Any team in the league would be salivating over that type of player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BanTSN Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 (edited) Probably because of how Booth played here. But the comparison is off because Booth didn't have the physicality or the shot. Virtanen's already dropped em more often than Boothy at just 17yrs old. Edited July 20, 2014 by BanTSN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amish Rake Fighter Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck Surfer Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 85-100 points nowadays is a superstar. I think virtanens ceiling is 40 goals and 30 helpers. So around 70 points in his prime which I'll gladly take if I'm right. Hey, Virtanen is an up and down player. And he can go through a lot of guys. A Nylander or Reinhart can dangle, and use combinations of agility and explosive quickness to burn almost anyone guarding them. And add vision plus passing skills to potentially get 50 or 60 assists to go with similar goal projections to Virtanen. That's a higher ceiling! Even if matched to more risk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canucklehead44 Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 I think the Booth/Virtanen comparisons are good. They have identical builds and play a power game with a tonne of speed. Booth was our best hitter up front last season and he did score 31 goals in Florida. I think the biggest thing lacking is playmaking ability in both players. 2008-2009 David Booth - 31 goals, 29 assists, 2nd on his team in points. 2nd amongst forwards in hits. I think this is what I would expect for Virtanen to put up in his prime. I don't see him as an 80 point player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGokou Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 Do you think his playing style is more similar to David Booth or Jarome Iginla? Obviously we all hope he has the ceiling of Iginla Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derp... Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 I think he has Iginla's physicality but more of Booths creativity currently. With the right development he could be an Iggy type player as long a he is able to play at pace without being rushed mentally. If the game can slow down for him as he improves we will see a great step forward in his game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeNiro Posted July 20, 2014 Share Posted July 20, 2014 (edited) You can compare him to any speedy powerforward you want really. He's gonna bring his own style and create his own identity though. He's a mix of a alot of different players since he has different elements to his game. Edited July 20, 2014 by DeNiro 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
messier's_elbow Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Do you think his playing style is more similar to David Booth or Jarome Iginla? Obviously we all hope he has the ceiling of Iginla god lets hope he turns into half the player iginla is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeanBeef Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Probably because of how Booth played here. But the comparison is off because Booth didn't have the physicality or the shot. Virtanen's already dropped em more often than Boothy at just 17yrs old. Booth was actually pretty physical in his time here. I see a lot of similarities between him and Kreider though, especially after watching the Rangers run to the final. Both hit hard, have a solid shot, are very fast, and play a very north/south based game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guntrix Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 People fail to remember that Booth's shot was good up until he went to shit as a player overall. Physically, they're not that far off either. Yeah, Virtanen has dropped the gloves more than Booth but he's not exactly a fighter either. They both like to throw their body around though and use their speed to their advantage in that sense. Attribute-wise, they're actually really really similar. They both have similar strengths and weaknesses and like for like playing styles. I don't understand why people are so reluctant to admit that they're similar players. It's not like I'm saying that they'll turn out the same. Virtanen's mentality already looks a lot better than that of Booth's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BanTSN Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 People fail to remember that Booth's shot was good up until he went to crap as a player overall. Physically, they're not that far off either. Yeah, Virtanen has dropped the gloves more than Booth but he's not exactly a fighter either. They both like to throw their body around though and use their speed to their advantage in that sense. Attribute-wise, they're actually really really similar. They both have similar strengths and weaknesses and like for like playing styles. I don't understand why people are so reluctant to admit that they're similar players. It's not like I'm saying that they'll turn out the same. Virtanen's mentality already looks a lot better than that of Booth's. I think we're prepared to let the comparison stage go and commence with the progression stage now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pears Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 People fail to remember that Booth's shot was good up until he went to crap as a player overall. He was a 30 goal scorer until Richards gave him an elbow to the head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Sestito Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Booth pre-Richards was great. I hope he gets his career back on track, because he was a good dude. If virtanen is going to be what booth was, + he's more physical.. I'm satisfied with that pick. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anti-Bettman Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Interesting insight. At the beginning of the video when the runner came up and told Benning "I'll bring you whichever jersey you tell me to bring you" "We'll see what he does here, alright?" (Referring to the fact that NYI haven't picked yet). Interesting to see that Benning says "Virtanen" right away even though, at the time, Dal Colle was still a possible pick.. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOMapleLaughs Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 ^Because the draft is rigged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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