DeltaSwede Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 I think a player like Jake needs to be developed throughly for him to have a successful career in the NHL. He isn't the most skilled guy but he does the basics of hockey very well. Jake needs to come into the lineup and absolutely ready to go or else he might be rushed into a wrong situation. He would look lost in the NHL. Another year in the dub, and probably atleast 1-2 years in Utica. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knucklehd Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 I think he'll be on the team. He has NHL size, speed, grit, and shot. Easily 4th line capable, learn the ropes with no pressure and grow in a professional environment, just like they have done with Horvat. The only issue I can see holdi him back is his defensive maturity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronalds.Kenins41 Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 I think virtanen makes the team next year if for no other reason than he adds that "get people out of their seats" excitement that's so badly needed on this team. Either a big goal or a big hit. The fan base is starting to dwindle and management has to be concerned Things have actually started to change actually. I think its important to make distinctions from this season and last season. Last season there was a visible emptiness in the seats and the interest in the team was at its lowest in 15 years. Most importantly the team was not winning and playing an entertaining brand of hockey. This season not only do we have the trust of the fans back in management, we are winning at a bit of a better pace but we are playing a more entertaining brand of hockey. All of this, plus the lower ticket prices have had a positive effect on the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadcanucks Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 I agree with the assessment of Canucks1219. The last thing we want to do is turn Virtanen into a Bärtschi type project for another team. Patience can be a complicated virtue for some GM's. I don't think that will be a problem for Jim Benning. He's already been through as a kid himself when he was rushed in as an 18 year old on a brutal Toronto Maple Leafs team. If anyone knows the virtue of patience, I would bet it's Jim Benning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaudette Celly Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 (edited) Another year in the dub, and probably atleast 1-2 years in Utica. Benning doesn't screw around or mince words. Unless he regresses, Virtanen will be on the team next season or the one after. Doubt he even sees Utica unless he really struggles. Edited March 5, 2015 by swift4grizz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuktravella Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 virtanen has high end elite speed in the nhl that alone will help him get in, plus a big body and his hits watch jake get calder next yr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tangerines Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 If Virtanen makes the team he will be in good hands with WD playing 10mins a night in a 4th line role just like BOHO. He will also be mentored by the Sedins and other leaders in the room. I also expect he will be sheltered and brought into a winning environment. Isn't that better than being on a CHL team where the coach may not focus on what Jake needs to develop him into the player the Canucks want him to become? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Building Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 It's hard to imagine a spot for Virtanen on this team especially now that we have Baertschi who won't be waiver eligible next year. Vey and Baertschi have to be on the Roster, Horvat is basically a lock and Gaunce and Jensen will be pushing hard for spots as wingers as well. That's a lot of young guys competing for spots on a team full of vets. Who knows, shinkaruk might even come to camp ready. Maybe I'm missing something here, but I'm not sure that I agree. If he needs another year in junior then can he not spend the entire season there and then be on the main roster following training camp in 2016? I like your optimism, but of the 6 players you named (and I hope they do force Benning to make tough choices) I really only see 2, or maybe up to 4 of them making the team. Vey, unless he is outplayed and moved, Horvat is a lock unless hurt, perhaps Gaunce in the bottom 6, and if we're lucky we get surprised by either offensive or defensive improvementsJensen or Shink. I don't think that will be a problem for Jim Benning. He's already been through as a kid himself when he was rushed in as an 18 year old on a brutal Toronto Maple Leafs team. If anyone knows the virtue of patience, I would bet it's Jim Benning. So far he seems to exude patience. I don't want to jump the gun before he even hits a year of work with our club, but he is a man of his word so far. For what it's worth, so far so good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gyllenhaal Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 (edited) virtanen has high end elite speed in the nhl that alone will help him get in, plus a big body and his hits watch jake get calder next yr He's gonna beat McDavid for the calder? So like 80+ points? Edited March 5, 2015 by I♥Huberdeau Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shiftynifty Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 I think many of you have already noticed this, but Jake gets a star almost every game even if their team loses or someone outscores him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaudette Celly Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 Vey (this year) and Baertschi and Clendening qualify for waivers next season. That's part of the reason we got them for pretty reasonable prices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaudette Celly Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 He's gonna beat McDavid for the calder? So like 80+ points? McDavid's gonna score 80 in Edmonton? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gyllenhaal Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 McDavid's gonna score 80 in Edmonton? lol, if he's in Buffalo I say around 80. But if he goes to Edmonton I wouldn't be surprised if he got close to 100. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nas19 Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 (edited) Went to the game today and gotta seek Jakey boy in action. I watched him very closely. Here are my thoughts. I'll start with his skating. Effortless. It's beautiful. Best skater I've seen in the WHL this year. No contest. His shot is monstrous. NHL level shot. Like elite NHL level shot. Next up his compete level. Honestly he looked bored out there. In warm up and everything he looked bored. But he competed hard. He's all in. Every time someone even looked at one of his team mates wrong he was there telling him to eff off. Got hacked pretty good today and dropped the mitts but the refs broke it up before anything could happen. Just got the 2 minutes. He plays for keeps. End of the game he punched about three dudes in the head. Just cause. But don't let that fool you. He is very, very discipline with his physical play. If he sees a guy in a vulnerable position he'll let up and he seemed like a very level headed guy who knows better than to take stupid penalties. Seems very intelligent. His defensive game is a lot better than I thought it would be. A lot of you guys on here made it sound like he is semi-retarded in his own zone. That is not the case at all. He made several good defensive plays today. Never made a blatantly bad one. In fact he made one fantastic one back-checking hard to break up a two on one. His skating level is so high he can make these defensive plays with ease. Is his d game perfect? No. Far from it. But it definitely isn't bad at all. He is the Calgary Hitmen's captain. He may not be wearing a letter but he's their captain. Just from warm-up on you could tell Jake is the leader of that team. The coaches were asking him questions and he would go talk to the refs about it (don't know why they allowed this as he doesn't even have a letter) and he made damn sure that nobody screwed with anybody while he was on the ice. Now my final point and the thing that surprised me the most is how friggin big he is. He was easily the biggest guy out there. Sure there are guys like Kanzig but he isn't like Virtanen. Virtanen is thick. He looks like he is 26. It was honestly scary. He was so physically imposing. When he wanted to he tossed guys around like they were nothing. From what I saw Virtanen is NHL ready. Honestly he should be in the NHL now. If it wasn't for his shoulder injury I bet you he would be with the Canucks today. Cause holy friggin crap I can't even describe how big he is. He is so thick. I bet when he is 23 he will be one of the most physically imposing players in the league. I actually don't know how he can get any more physically mature. The fact that he can skate that well with his size is unbelievable. Virtanen will be with the Canucks next year. He is NHL ready. His speed, his shot, his defensive game isn't that bad at all, and most of all his size. He's an NHL player already. This is all just based off of one game but my god am I excited to see him wear a Canucks jersey. Holy sh!t. I just can't get over what a monster he is. Even my friend who is overly negative about Canuck prospects says Virtanen looked legit. I still just can't get over how friggin big he is. Like I can't even describe it. Dude is frackin 26 years old already. Jake Virtanen is NHL ready. No argument. No contest. Dude should be wearing a Canucks jersey right now. Edited March 5, 2015 by Nas19 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownUndaCanuck Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 I think one of the biggest reasons Benning wanted Baertschi was to keep Virtanen down in junior a season longer. Ideally, we treat him the way we treated Horvat. Seems like players learn how to round out their game better in junior (ie. defensive positioning and play away from the puck), then in the AHL they learn how to play with adults, learn and develop physically and get used to the travel and grind of the big professional leagues. Because Horvat was already quite mature and physically ready, he clearly didn't need long in the AHL, and I feel the same will be for Virtanen. He's already got NHL speed and size, but his big problem is defence, which is something he can learn well in the junior leagues with his coaches there. Ideally, Benning keeps him in the OHL next season to round himself out and then I personally would like to see him with a full season in the AHL, of course with the occasional injury call up to the Canucks that season. We've still got Higgins, Vbrata, Burrows, Daniel and Hansen as the veteran wingers under contract for a while. I believe Benning will try to get rid of them by the end of next season (let Vbrata walk, Higgins will most likely be traded by then too) to let kids like Baertschi and Jensen get a bit more playing time (maybe even Shinkaruk too). Once those kids have been playing for an NHL season, it'll be time to slowly introduce Virtanen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gstank29 Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 I think one of the biggest reasons Benning wanted Baertschi was to keep Virtanen down in junior a season longer. Ideally, we treat him the way we treated Horvat. Seems like players learn how to round out their game better in junior (ie. defensive positioning and play away from the puck), then in the AHL they learn how to play with adults, learn and develop physically and get used to the travel and grind of the big professional leagues. Because Horvat was already quite mature and physically ready, he clearly didn't need long in the AHL, and I feel the same will be for Virtanen. He's already got NHL speed and size, but his big problem is defence, which is something he can learn well in the junior leagues with his coaches there. Ideally, Benning keeps him in the OHL next season to round himself out and then I personally would like to see him with a full season in the AHL, of course with the occasional injury call up to the Canucks that season. We've still got Higgins, Vbrata, Burrows, Daniel and Hansen as the veteran wingers under contract for a while. I believe Benning will try to get rid of them by the end of next season (let Vbrata walk, Higgins will most likely be traded by then too) to let kids like Baertschi and Jensen get a bit more playing time (maybe even Shinkaruk too). Once those kids have been playing for an NHL season, it'll be time to slowly introduce Virtanen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeefcakeBo Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 VIRTANEN WITH THE FIRST GOAL OF THE GAME Did you see the game winner for the Cougars? On another note I watched Virtanen tonight and he is really fast, didn't seem to be as big as people are making him out to be though. He wasn't small, but just seemed like average size, but it's unusual because he was fast like you only usually see from small guys. Pretty good shot and his defensive game actually seemed to be a lot better than I've been hearing. He was in position well, hard on the puck and back checking hard. He stopped an empty netter at the end of the third when he won a race for the puck that he had no business winning. I don't think he will make the canucks out of training camp next year with our overload of players fighting for roster spots but he will definitely make that a hard decision for them. I am excited for him when he does make the team, he plays a really dominant game. I've got no doubt that he makes the Canucks in the next couple years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby_Lu1ngo Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 He is certainly physically ready like Bo was there is no question. Also I would argue his offensive skills are good enough to be in the NHL. I just don't see him on the team next year nor much of a good reason to have him in next year. We have a roster that is good enough to compete already without him. On top of that we have guys like jensen and bartschi who are more developed and waiver risks which is a disadvantage for Jake. The 19/20 year of junior is the most dominant year for young players. His role will increase on the hitmen with overagers leaving. He will play on team canada again. He will dominate and have another year to focus on the little things he needs to learn yet. I have no doubt he will get his 9 games barring a horrendous training camp. I do feel though that due to his physical attributes, grit, offensive prowess, and elite speed he will likely join the NHL from Jrs like Bo did. My prediction is his 19/20 year in JR again with potentially a playoff stint with Utica if Hitmen make an early exit from WHL playoffs. His 20/21 year with the Canucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piggy Bank Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 lol, if he's in Buffalo I say around 80. But if he goes to Edmonton I wouldn't be surprised if he got close to 100. Would he get more with Moulson and Kane or Hall and Eberle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nas19 Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 (edited) https://twitter.com/Tazmanjer/status/573367443625668608 Classy dude. This kid is special. I am so on the Virtanen hype train. Edited March 5, 2015 by Nas19 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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