Jake Virtanen | #18 | RW

[rekker]

Sometimes I wonder if they tried to hard, to early to make the kid a complete hockey player. At this point I would accept his defensive warts if he would just drive some offence. 

[captainhorvat]

10 minutes ago, Rob_Zepp said:

...and you still make up childish names for elite professional athletes?

Yea so what? R u butt hurt because i call him Fake Virtanen?

Hes nothing close to what he was drafted for. I get it...hes still young but he had a lousy year in utica last season when it comes to point production. And its the ssme thing this year. Sure some will say its not about production rightnow but hes too inconsistent. If your not putting up points then show us that the points will eventually come. Go drive hard to the net, instead he does the opposite. Can barely get a shot on net. Only starts hitting when he returns from being benched or scratched. Makes boneheaded mistakes on the regular.

 

 Some might agree with me and some wont but you get the sense the guy is a bit of a dumba**.

[captainhorvat]

16 minutes ago, rekker said:

My thoughts exactly.  It's like an alcoholic. You can only do so much to help them. At some point they need to snap out of it and want to help themselves. And I agree in no way am I saying we give up on the kid.  

Just curious as to why you dont think we give up on him? Im ready to trade him for another project before its too late.

[rekker]

2 minutes ago, captainhorvat said:

Just curious as to why you dont think we give up on him? Im ready to trade him for another project before its too late.

Good question. His skill set may lend itself to a good third liner if he fails at a top six role. That isn't the case for most projected top six players. That said. If I was GM and a young Dman was offered in trade. Like a Dermott. I would have to take a long look. That, or if at the draft you can get a second for Jake and you feel there is a dman like Timmins in that slot I would maybe do it. 

[Tre Mac]

23 minutes ago, captainhorvat said:

 

 Some might agree with me and some wont but you get the sense the guy is a bit of a dumba**.

He looks completely lost out there.

[ForsbergTheGreat]

 

Quote

Kassian is also a pretty good example of giving up on a big physical power forward. He eventually got his s*** together and is now a good player.

 

Hes an ok 4th line player. He’s clean up his aft enough to become a full time nhler but that’s about it.  Canucks fans were expecting a top 6 powerforward. 

 

You’re probably right with the neely paranoia. Add in the fact that there were a number of people that wanted other options at the draft who are now top line players. Trading him now only to watch him break out would be adding even more salt to the wound. 

 

 

[captainhorvat]

9 minutes ago, rekker said:

Good question. His skill set may lend itself to a good third liner if he fails at a top six role. That isn't the case for most projected top six players. That said. If I was GM and a young Dman was offered in trade. Like a Dermott. I would have to take a long look. That, or if at the draft you can get a second for Jake and you feel there is a dman like Timmins in that slot I would maybe do it. 

I think he could be a bottom 6 on a different organization. Im not sure if this market would accept it. Him being a 6th overall and was sold hard as a top 6 power forward.  Im sure aquaman is not impressed with jakes development considering players we passed on in that draft. I think Benning pulls the trigger on deadline and ships him out.

[rekker]

Kassian is a great comparable. I mentioned in another thread how a scout I talked to touched on how a young player has to do at least one thing really, really well. For Zack he has the physicality teams want. Jake is yet to show that one skill he can consistently add to the lineup to keep him there.

[Nuck1991]

its time to move on. Very hard to digest that hes a bust but it is wht it is

[250Integra]

Speed is Virtanen's number one asset. He has the ability to beat any defender wide, but it is what he does with the puck afterwards. So many times he will blow past a defender only to throw a weak shot at net, or throw a pass that gets picked off (or to nobody).

 

I'm sure management and coach Green will not give up on Virtanen because he has the tools to succeed. He just needs to put it all together, and that starts with being a professional off the ice. When you look at social media and compare him with someone like Brock and Bo, you don't have to look very far to see which of the two wants it more. I almost feel like Virtanen is just riding along and enjoying the perks of being an NHL player. However, he's going to get a rude awakening if he doesn't start working his *** off and improving on his weaknesses.

 

Yes, he may never be the star power-forward that we hoped he would be, but he can be a very effective support player at the very least. 

[Butters Stoch]

Half the reason Zack started succeeding is that he and the Oilers accepted the fact that he is a bottom 6 guy. The entire time he was here, we kept calling him the next Bertuzzi and putting an insane amount of pressure on him to become something he's not. 

 

I'm seeing the same thing happen here with Jake. Until we lower our expectations and let him settle into a role, he's gonna continue to be stuck in between roles and lost about what he's supposed to do because he's neither a consistent scorer nor hitter right now. 

[Nucker 67]

18 minutes ago, 250Integra said:

Speed is Virtanen's number one asset. He has the ability to beat any defender wide, but it is what he does with the puck afterwards. So many times he will blow past a defender only to throw a weak shot at net, or throw a pass that gets picked off (or to nobody).

 

I'm sure management and coach Green will not give up on Virtanen because he has the tools to succeed. He just needs to put it all together, and that starts with being a professional off the ice. When you look at social media and compare him with someone like Brock and Bo, you don't have to look very far to see which of the two wants it more. I almost feel like Virtanen is just riding along and enjoying the perks of being an NHL player. However, he's going to get a rude awakening if he doesn't start working his *** off and improving on his weaknesses.

 

Yes, he may never be the star power-forward that we hoped he would be, but he can be a very effective support player at the very least. 

well said

 

Bo and Brock work their butts off to always be better. Jake hangs out with troubled pop stars and spends his spare time in Vegas. Very different priorities.

[rekker]

57 minutes ago, 250Integra said:

Speed is Virtanen's number one asset. He has the ability to beat any defender wide, but it is what he does with the puck afterwards. So many times he will blow past a defender only to throw a weak shot at net, or throw a pass that gets picked off (or to nobody).

 

I'm sure management and coach Green will not give up on Virtanen because he has the tools to succeed. He just needs to put it all together, and that starts with being a professional off the ice. When you look at social media and compare him with someone like Brock and Bo, you don't have to look very far to see which of the two wants it more. I almost feel like Virtanen is just riding along and enjoying the perks of being an NHL player. However, he's going to get a rude awakening if he doesn't start working his *** off and improving on his weaknesses.

 

Yes, he may never be the star power-forward that we hoped he would be, but he can be a very effective support player at the very least. 

He can. He could start by using his speed on the forecheck. We suck at the. If he was to be a beast at that it would help with his spot on the team. 

[rekker]

49 minutes ago, Butters Stoch said:

Half the reason Zack started succeeding is that he and the Oilers accepted the fact that he is a bottom 6 guy. The entire time he was here, we kept calling him the next Bertuzzi and putting an insane amount of pressure on him to become something he's not. 

 

I'm seeing the same thing happen here with Jake. Until we lower our expectations and let him settle into a role, he's gonna continue to be stuck in between roles and lost about what he's supposed to do because he's neither a consistent scorer nor hitter right now. 

Not entirely true. Oilers got Kassian because the Habs gave up on him and his off ice issues as well. It was Kassian himself who finally came to camp that fall in shape and with the right attitude. Jake seems to have not had that light bulb go off yet. 

[RonMexico]

At this point, I would be ecstatic if he was able to become as useful as Jannik Hansen was to the Canucks.

[PhillipBlunt]

1 minute ago, rekker said:

Not entirely true. Oilers got Kassian because the Habs gave up on him and his off ice issues as well. It was Kassian himself who finally came to camp that fall in shape and with the right attitude. Jake seems to have not had that light bulb go off yet. 

Not to mention Kassian had to hit bottom to have a moment of clarity which served him well. He realized that he already had one foot out the door and if he didn't stick with Edmonton, he'd be out of the NHL.

 

Jake, by all accounts (at least credible ones), doesn't seem to have the same issues that plagued Kassian. He's in his first true season in the NHL, not just being asked to come up and get his stuff. He needs a little bit more maturity, but what average 21 year old doesn't? Yes he's shown some bad choices when it comes to errant passes, but so have the Sedins, Edler, Bo, Brock, and the list goes on.

 

I think Green will get Jake solidly on track by the end of this season.

[Rob_Zepp]

2 hours ago, captainhorvat said:

Yea so what? R u butt hurt because i call him Fake Virtanen?

Hes nothing close to what he was drafted for. I get it...hes still young but he had a lousy year in utica last season when it comes to point production. And its the ssme thing this year. Sure some will say its not about production rightnow but hes too inconsistent. If your not putting up points then show us that the points will eventually come. Go drive hard to the net, instead he does the opposite. Can barely get a shot on net. Only starts hitting when he returns from being benched or scratched. Makes boneheaded mistakes on the regular.

 

 Some might agree with me and some wont but you get the sense the guy is a bit of a dumba**.

“Butt hurt”?  Are you sure you are not in junior high?

[captainhorvat]

8 minutes ago, Rob_Zepp said:

“Butt hurt”?  Are you sure you are not in junior high?

Does it matter? 

[rekker]

22 minutes ago, PhillipBlunt said:

Not to mention Kassian had to hit bottom to have a moment of clarity which served him well. He realized that he already had one foot out the door and if he didn't stick with Edmonton, he'd be out of the NHL.

 

Jake, by all accounts (at least credible ones), doesn't seem to have the same issues that plagued Kassian. He's in his first true season in the NHL, not just being asked to come up and get his stuff. He needs a little bit more maturity, but what average 21 year old doesn't? Yes he's shown some bad choices when it comes to errant passes, but so have the Sedins, Edler, Bo, Brock, and the list goes on.

 

I think Green will get Jake solidly on track by the end of this season.

Very good points. It's important to make note that it appears that Jake does not have the "issues" that Zack had. Very important point. And I totally agree the best chance to get him going in the right direction is with Green. Jake has commented many times on their strong relationship. That, and history shows Travis had his issues breaking into the leugue and will be able to relate.

[Nucker 67]

Blunt, you make good points. Maybe we are tough on Jake, because he was drafted with such high hopes. At the time, the Canucks never had a real top notch forward prospect in their system, and Jake was drafted 6th OA. I can only speak for myself but I had high expectations of Jake (still do), and wanted him to prove he was worth being chosen 6th OA. He hasn't proven that (yet). My own impatience?