Jake Virtanen | #18 | RW

[bubbaCHUCK]

Horvat might have a better all around game then Virtanen. but i can see Virtanen be more of an offensive threat like Brad Marchand.

Jake just needs to work on his playmaking ability and trusting his teammates more.

i also think he's playing with too many voices in his head. i.e. coaches, friends, family, and hometown fans.

still a young kid playing with alot of preasure. once he's grown out of that stage, he'll be a beast and a guy you hate to play against.

[missioncanucksfan]

On Monday, May 30, 2016 at 9:04 PM, Whale Tail said:

I read that Tanev was getting a shooting coach for the summer too. Can't remember where though. 

I suck at copy/paste twitter onto here but it was on News1130 right after the Gold medal game. 

It was also on Hockey buzz. 

 

This would be cool if Tanev can contribute another 5-6 goals from the back end.

[kloubek]

I'm hoping that he was just thrown into the NHL too soon, and that it was the pressure of that, along with being crucified for his Team Canada play just got to him.  I hope he arrives at camp confident, refreshed, and ready to show us what he is capable of.

 

There is no reason that as long as he makes solid plays that he shouldn't be able to find a third line spot on this team.  He has the toolbox.... just needs to stop slamming it shut on himself.

[Noble 6]

I'm excited to watch him improve and learn. Watching him continue to develop his ability and mind to use his size to impose his will on the game will be fun. We got a small sample of what he can do in the second half of the year. It will take some time, maybe about 3-4 more years, but once he is fully developed, he will be an amazing part of our team. 

[Alflives]

48 minutes ago, Horvat is a Boss said:

I'm excited to watch him improve and learn. Watching him continue to develop his ability and mind to use his size to impose his will on the game will be fun. We got a small sample of what he can do in the second half of the year. It will take some time, maybe about 3-4 more years, but once he is fully developed, he will be an amazing part of our team. 

I agree.  There is not another young player in the league with his skill set.  His ceiling is a player who helps his team win games every shift.  Great pick by JB!

[Mathew Barzal]

On 01/06/2016 at 9:13 AM, Alflives said:

Jake would need a top notch center to score thirty.  Who will be the top center in Utica?  

He was drafted 6th overall, he should be able to create offense regardless of his linemates. He's also a shoot first player so it isn't like he's reliant on others finishing his plays.

[kloubek]

21 hours ago, Alflives said:

I agree.  There is not another young player in the league with his skill set.  His ceiling is a player who helps his team win games every shift.  Great pick by JB!

Well, we will see.  He was thrown in too early so the fact he didn't get his game together last year isn't a surprise.  I agree that he does have that ceiling.

 

I think by picking a guy like Virtanen in such a draft position is both a high and low risk proposition.  High because he never quite showed quite the same offensive acumen as, say, Nylander.  Yet, if Virtanen doesn't reach his potential he should still be able to play a bottom 6 role.  If Nylander doesn't reach his potential, he has a high chance of not continuing his NHL career because he's certainly not the kind of guy you want on your 3rd or 4th line. 

Though we haven't likely seen what Virtanen is capable of, I'm also still happy with this pick.

[Phat Fingers]

Guys like Virtanen take time to season. 

 

He has been able to cut corners and get away with it in Junior.  Those days are done, now he needs to develop his pro game. 

 

After last year, I believe that Virtenan needs to spend some time on the Bus in AHL getting smarter and more driven about his approach to each game. 

 

Start him in Utica, give him top six minutes, let him watch other guys get the call up, then after half a season, give him a taste.  Send him back down the moment his play drops off, wash and repeat.  

 

  His game requires an intensity that he struggled with last year, understandably. 

 

 

[Deets]

Jeez, it's depressing reading some of the posts on this site. The fact is, despite his rocky start, by the end of last season Jake didn't look out of place on our lineup at all. Sure, he wasn't scoring at a point per game pace, but he is only 19yo and he has more intangibles then any other prospect currently in our system.

 

Andrew Ladd was drafted 4th overall but has never scored 30 goals in one season. Would you consider him a huge disappointment? The dude's a warrior and helps teams win. I think Jake has already shown he can easily become as good as an Andrew Ladd, but I believe he has the potential to be even more. Patience is key.

[RyIe]

Virtanen had a very good, not great, second half in his first year. The way he drove play and created open space showed us a glimpse of what type of player he could be in the coming years. It would be nice to see him put up 30+ points in his second year, but showing consistency in his game for the full year would be even better. 

[Harvey Spector]

Power forwards take time to develop. The Canucks know this better than anyone. They screwed up big time by trading Cam Neely way too early in his development. As well they benefited by picking up an under developed Todd Bertuzzi, who took until age 24 to break out. 

 

I wouldn't be shocked if Virtanen ends up in Utica next year. He may need some seasoning in the minors. But he has a great tool kit and, if properly developed, could turn into that top 6 power forward we've been dreaming about since the Bertuzzi days.  If that occurs I highly doubt anyone will be complaining and talking about how we should have drafted Nylander or Ehlers instead. 

[kloubek]

19 hours ago, The 5th Line said:

I hate when people bring this up.  Who cares what line a player plays on?  Not physical or defensive enough blah blah blah

 

Phil frigging Kessel plays on the Penguins 3rd line.  He is a human marshmellow and he is a candidate for the conn smythe 

 

 

Well, no.... it isn't specifically a particular line.  My comments are based on the traditional setup whereby your first 2 lines are your best scorers, third line is energy with some scoring ability, 4th line are the grinders who can *hopefully* chip in.  Most teams still use a setup at least somewhat similar to this for a multitude of reasons.  Maybe a team could use their "2nd" line as the shutdown line and their third line provides the secondary scoring.  In that instance, you'd be totally right.  It just almost never works out that way. 

The fact is this: The league has limited room for a player who is just "good" offensively, and mediocre at everything else.  If Nylander's talent doesn't translate to a top scoring level, then he had better ensure he has other elements to his game to keep himself in the league.  Virtanen, on the other hand, will almost certainly be an NHL player.  Whether he plays on a top line or lower line remains to be seen.  And yes, if he doesn't develop into a scoring winger, then he will indeed end up on the 3rd or 4th line.... which, almost always, is a line that has players who were not good enough to be top scorers, but bring other elements to the game.

[Fakename70]

On June 1, 2016 at 2:49 PM, Alflives said:

Do we have a center, other than Hank, who has that talent?  Or is that supposed to be Dubois?  Or would Jost be a better fit for us?  Jost sure has that natural center skill.

Regarding play making centers? H. Sedin is pretty much the only one. Certainly among the top-6, anyway. Sutter is more of a goal scorer, and Horvat isn't exactly what I'd call an assist factory, either. Kinda renders Benning adding a legitimate goal scorer moot if no one can put the puck on his stick consistently. Pretty sure we saw that firsthand this season with regards to a certain veteran Czech RW. 

 

[I'myourhuckleberry]

On 08/06/2016 at 2:30 PM, Fakename70 said:

Regarding play making centers? H. Sedin is pretty much the only one. Certainly among the top-6, anyway. Sutter is more of a goal scorer, and Horvat isn't exactly what I'd call an assist factory, either. Kinda renders Benning adding a legitimate goal scorer moot if no one can put the puck on his stick consistently. Pretty sure we saw that firsthand this season with regards to a certain veteran Czech

PLDs assists, alot of them were primary, meaning he has his head up looking for the open man, Logan Brown has some good comparisons to Thornton in how he protects the puck, and he has size to boot.  1st lines if you have snipers on either wing, it would help to have that setup man, both seem like you cannot go wrong, Brown would take longer to develop.  out of the 2, which piques your interest?

 

Cant wait to see Virtanen next year, those hits, the goals will come, but please keep up with the hits, looks like a mack truck out there

[Shiftynifty]

Looks a bit out of shape in some of his recent clips. Hope he works harder this off-season and show us more in the upcoming season. His goal during that Flyers' game was one of my highlights last season; really hope we get to see more of that Jake.

[Ted Lasso]

On July 1, 2016 at 6:51 AM, Shiftynifty said:

Looks a bit out of shape in some of his recent clips. Hope he works harder this off-season and show us more in the upcoming season. His goal during that Flyers' game was one of my highlights last season; really hope we get to see more of that Jake.

Yeah, he looked gassed in the Gudbranson video, and was distracted by the camera. 

 

Likely he's just transitioned from bulking to cutting. There's lots of Summer left, and it's amazing what 6 weeks of consistent, tough workouts can do for stamina. I trust Canucks training staff to keep investing in our local-boy.

 

FWIW - I met his billet parent in Calgary in early 2015. He said Jake was in incredible shape compared to other Hitmen players he had hosted.

Edited July 3, 2016 by Kenny Powers
Spelling

[Ted Lasso]

https://m.soundcloud.com/tsn-radio-vancouver/emerson-etem-jake-virtanen-a-focused-summer-of-training-for-both

 

Just found this 1040 interview with JV & EE. They are training together and competing in sprints, cardio & weights. Sounds like Jake knows he has to earn his ice time, but still sounds pretty goofy/immature when interviewed (and fair enough at 20).

 

Side Note:  They also mentioned Daniel Sedin rode his bike from YVR straight to the Grouse Grind & went up in 35-37 min - what an ironman.

[winthecup]

http://theprovince.com/sports/hockey/nhl/vancouver-canucks/canucks-virtanen-eager-to-prove-he-belongs-in-big-boy-pacific-division

 

This is all Jake Virtanen needs to know.

There are too many right-wingers for the projected roster next fall. And even though some can play the left side, Vancouver Canucks general manager Jim Benning is willing to trade for another seasoned winger with size, grit and scoring ability. With Milan Lucic now in Edmonton, Troy Brouwer in Calgary and too many wide bodies still in San Jose, Anaheim and Los Angeles, you still have to don the big-boy pants in the Pacific Division. Maybe now more than ever.

And that could work in Virtanen’s favour. If he’s fit. If he’s more focused than fun-loving.

“I’ll be here in Vancouver and training all summer and I won’t be going anywhere,” pledged the 19-year-old Virtanen, whose rollercoaster National Hockey League rookie season was a sobering realization of what it takes to become a consummate professional — a tough ask for any wide-eyed and impressionable player. “It’s coming into camp and making a statement that I belong right away.

Jake Virtanen was heavily scrutinized in his rookie NHL season and world junior tournament.

“Even though I was on the team last year, things can happen. I can be sent down, but I want to prove to management that I belong here. I’ve got to come into camp and show the coaching staff right away that I’m ready to play. I want to be here and I’m just going to go out and play my hardest. I want to be a dominant player right away and that’s huge.”

The right way means accountability.

It means using that thick 6-1, 208-pound frame to make opposition players feel like they ran into a brick wall. It means skating hard all the time to be a force along the walls and the end boards. It means not coasting on the backcheck or missing your assignment in the defensive zone. It means a lot. But if Virtanen wants to take a giant development step and move from project to roster regular in his second season, the sixth overall pick in the 2014 draft can’t pick his spots. He has to be all in, all the time.

Virtanen certainly sounds like he understands what’s at stake.

“It’s being an every-day guy — you can’t take any days off,” he agreed. “You can’t just dip your toes in. You have to be a guy the players appreciate and for a new guy coming into the league, that’s a big change. You’ve go to have that mindset. Look at Hank and Danny (Sedin). They’re every-day guys and they stay consistent and do everything to make themselves better.”

The Sedins were hard on the kids last season because there should never be a sense of entitlement. Virtanen averaged 11:33 of playing time in 55 games and managed seven goals and six assists. He also managed to irk the coaching staff when his attention span would waver or his conditioning wasn’t where it should be. And if that’s the case through the pre-season or in the early stages of the regular season, he turns 20 on Aug. 17 and could be sent to the AHL’s Utica Comets. He could play 20 minutes a night there, get some tough love from coach Travis Green and be better for it.

Jannik Hansen has a movable contract, but Jim Benning said he’s not dealing the Dane.

It’s a possibility.

With Loui Eriksson, Jannik Hansen, Anton Rodin, Emerson Etem, Derek Dorsett and Alex Burrows as other projected ride-side options — Rodin, Dorsett and Burrows can play left wing — the right early impression will be crucial. Benning said he won’t trade Hansen and won’t buy out Burrows when the next window opens in August.

However, if Benning does land a winger with some pedigree, he’ll probably have to part with at least a roster player and he has a lot of right-wingers.

When main camp arrives in September, Virtanen will also have to impress Doug Jarvis. He replaces Glen Gulutzan as an assistant coach and will handle forwards and the power play. As expected, Jarvis wants players with a 200-foot game mentality and an understanding of the team concept. It’s how Jarvis excelled in a 13-year NHL playing career with Montreal, Washington and Hartford.

The responsible two-way centre never missed a game due to injury — he played 964 career regular-season games plus 105 playoff games — and also won the Selke Trophy as top defensive forward and Masterton Trophy for perseverance and dedication. That should resonate with everybody and especially with younger players trying to establish themselves. Jarvis captured four Stanley Cups as a player and two as an assistant coach. So, how can he help the kids?

“The big thing is sharing your experiences,” Jarvis told TSN 1040 on Monday. “A lot of coaching is teaching and to do that you have to have experiences and communicate. If a player is coachable, there are things he can pick up and get in his game.”

Virtanen’s game was better for his world junior hockey experience, even though it didn’t end well for Team Canada. He was forced to skate harder on the bigger ice surface, but became a lightning-rod for criticism for his penalties in a 6-5 quarter-final loss to eventual champion Finland. He handled intense scrutiny well and how well he handles greater expectations next fall will depend on how hard he works now.

He knows that.

bkuzma@postmedia.com
twitter.com/@benkuzma

[Rough Neck]

Good article. I like what Jarvis is going to bring to the team too. Sounds like someone who will help our PP, but more importantly impact our younger guys to be more than just a goal scorer, but a two-way player, which I think will work well for someone like Virtanen who has speed and strength. 

[cripplereh]

well now he knows and it is up to him to prove he should stay meaning maybe a trade or two.I would send him down to get the extra playing time,but still like him and want him in the big club just think he is better off in the minors for now