two drink minimum Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 Not to mention the unfortunate loss of BourdonKesler played with a torn labrum and Rome was inexplicably suspended for four games, the list goes on and on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaBamba Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 I wish that the Canucks will "detroit" all their prospects. Unless there are cases like Horvat that was clearly ready for a role in the NHL and proved that with is rookie season. What is the rush to get these young guys into the team? When they are ready to take over roles, they are ready. Might as well just brew them in junior and the AHL before that. An experienced 22 year old will likely enjoy earlier success than an unexperienced 18 year old. Another factor people don't think think about is how hard it is for an 18/19 year old kid to move far away from his family and live on his own like Horvat did. He even mentioned how lonely he was at times and how he had no real escape from hockey. I give him a lot of credit for that. He refused to move in with someone and decided it was time to be a man. Jake's home is here in Vancouver which would cross 1 more thing off the "stress out about" list during this leap into the big leagues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
groovy Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 I do see a power forward as well just not one with a nasty edge. I think it would serve him and his teamates well to focus on his ridiculous speed, agility and shooting. Obviously he has the confidence to play the big boys game and has enough size to play that way but that tends to lead to a much shorter career As I look back at some of the grittier power forwards that were not huge but skilled I cant help but want to compare Virt to Doug Gilmour. Gilmour played well out of his skates at 5'10 and was one of the most lethal penaly killers in history. I see so much 2 way potential in Virtanen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
groovy Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 Doug Gilmour a power forward comparable to Jake? Love Doug Gilmour (power forward @ ca. 170 lbs)but see zero comparison to Jake. Gilmour vs Bobby Clarke a WAY better comparison in IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOMapleLaughs Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 Gilmour is what the Flames pray Bennett will turn out to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Realtor Rod Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 Gilmour is what the Flames pray Bennett will turn out to be. Small sample size, but so far, so good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestlockWarrior Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 Best Case Scneario for Jake. Jarome Iginla 2.0 Putting up 30 goals 30 assists a year 1st like RW. And stepping it up and being a force in the playoffs. Worst Case scenarip for Jake Raffi Torres. 15 goals 20 assists a year. 3rd line RW that intimidates Dmen and effects games w. Physical play and intimidation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
73 Percent Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 (edited) Best Case Scneario for Jake. Jarome Iginla 2.0 Putting up 30 goals 30 assists a year 1st like RW. And stepping it up and being a force in the playoffs. Worst Case scenarip for Jake Raffi Torres. 15 goals 20 assists a year. 3rd line RW that intimidates Dmen and effects games w. Physical play and intimidation.i agree with most of your post other than his worst case scenario production. I think it will be similar to Torres (in thw worst case) just like you said but raffi onky had 1 nhl season of 35 points. Im hoping for the iginla scenario nonetheless. Edited June 10, 2015 by Gooseberries Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOMapleLaughs Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 Virtanen is already better defensively than Torres ever was imho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildwood Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 Once again, from what we have seen from Jake, compared to Ehlers and Nylander he has not preformed on the same level. Jake was projected when drafted to be a hard hitting RW powerforward first line player. That has not changed, but I believe the likelihood that he puts it all together is dwindling. Is Jake a bust? Absolutely not. Does he need to work harder this offseason than ever before to prove me wrong? You bet. If Jake does end up producing well, I will eat my words. You got to remember one of the flaws that scouts found in Jake was his IQ, and they questioned whether he could put all his tools together. So far, that is on point. He needs to go back to junior and work on his finishing and creativity. Not unreasonable at all, but don't think the big show is the right move as of now. Let him go back, dominate junior, and maybe he regains his scoring form from his draft year. Hope this post is reasonable and not "trolling" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildwood Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 Once again, from what we have seen from Jake, compared to Ehlers and Nylander he has not preformed on the same level. Jake was projected when drafted to be a hard hitting RW powerforward first line player. That has not changed, but I believe the likelihood that he puts it all together is dwindling. Is Jake a bust? Absolutely not. Does he need to work harder this offseason than ever before to prove me wrong? You bet. If Jake does end up producing well, I will eat my words. You got to remember one of the flaws that scouts found in Jake was his IQ, and they questioned whether he could put all his tools together. So far, that is on point. He needs to go back to junior and work on his finishing and creativity. Not unreasonable at all, but don't think the big show is the right move as of now. Let him go back, dominate junior, and maybe he regains his scoring form from his draft year. Hope this post is reasonable and not "trolling" Jake is working on his defence ability. That's what he was told to work on. If he was working on his creativity like you mentioned, he would turn out to be a Phil Kessel type player who can not back check, forecheck, but knows how to pick up the paycheck. Let him develop like Bo Horvat please. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aGENT Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 i agree with most of your post other than his worst case scenario production. I think it will be similar to Torres (in thw worst case) just like you said but raffi onky had 1 nhl season of 35 points. Im hoping for the iginla scenario nonetheless. He'll probably land somewhere in the middle. 25/25 with a good edge to his game that keeps the opposition's heads on swivels and a 1st/2nd line tweener. And I'll be just fine with that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
73 Percent Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 He'll probably land somewhere in the middle. 25/25 with a good edge to his game that keeps the opposition's heads on swivels and a 1st/2nd line tweener. And I'll be just fine with that hell ya. Id be fine with that too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canucklehead44 Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 High-end potential: 23 year old David Booth Low-end potential: 29 year old David Booth 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOMapleLaughs Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 Virtanen is already miles better defensively than David Booth too. Watching his game progress this season in this way has been a treat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeanBeef Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 Virtanen is already miles better defensively than David Booth too. Watching his game progress this season in this way has been a treat. david booth was never bad defensively, just not great. He played pk for Florida as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fozzy Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 Agreed, WJ Gold was nice but he did not play much of a role-similar to Gauthier from the Leafs. Mostly a grinding/checking role. He scored 45 goals in his draft year. I expected honestly 55-60 this year, and I do not buy the whole Shoulder surgery thing. Galchenyuk and Rielly both came off worse injuries than Jake and managed to have amazing post-draft development years. I hope he works on it in the offseason. Maybe he has a Horvat-type transition to the NHL, but he will need to show more next. At some point production needs to become a factor with Virtanen- he needs to score or else he will fall back on just his speed and hitting. It has been well documented that Virtanen has all the tools to become an elite talent, but needs to put it all together. He has not shown any progress so far, that is the part that concerns me. Bust if he doesn't score 100 goals in his first NHL season right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Karlsson Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 I just can't wait to see how much faster and stronger he gets after an off season to train and mature. I find it funny people think he will be back in jr. Guys are going to be getting ragdolled by him in pre-season. His offense will come just like Horvat, he's already pretty good defensively like TOML said and has the speed to strip anyone from the puck on the backcheck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spotted Zebra Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 Is he injured tonight or a healthy scratch? Not playing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Realtor Rod Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 Healthy scratch I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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