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Jake Virtanen | #18 | RW


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I think Jake plays better with Sutter personally. Jake knows his role there. 

I like that Jake was getting in the face of .... (Forgot the name). Pushing and shoving in the third period. Looked good on his goal.

He is playing great coverage but his O does need work despite the 2 points. 

The one thing I noticed was on the three on one he followed the play past the goal line. Would have liked him to hang in the slot. That was the only bad thing I noticed. He was throwing it on the net  trying to create rebounds. Very good overall. 

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9 minutes ago, FaninMex said:

I think Jake plays better with Sutter personally. Jake knows his role there. 

I like that Jake was getting in the face of .... (Forgot the name). Pushing and shoving in the third period. Looked good on his goal.

He is playing great coverage but his O does need work despite the 2 points. 

The one thing I noticed was on the three on one he followed the play past the goal line. Would have liked him to hang in the slot. That was the only bad thing I noticed. He was throwing it on the net  trying to create rebounds. Very good overall. 

He seems to play a complete game with Sutter, When he plays with Bo it seems he gets lost on what to do and where to go next.

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On 10/30/2019 at 2:32 PM, GoldenAlien said:

Virtanen reminds me a bit of Brett Connolly.  Also a sixth overall pick, touted as a scoring power forward, rushed into the NHL at 19 when he probably should've went back to the Dub another year.  Sent down to the AHL at 20 once he was eligible, didn't establish himself as a full time NHLer until he was 22.  Broke out last year with the Caps and is now on pace for a 60+ point season with the Panthers at age 27.  Virtanen just turned 23 two months ago.

 

Even then, was Connolly the best pick at No. 6?  No, not when Skinner went one pick after at No. 7, and Schwarz, Tarasenko and Kuznetsov were still on the board.  Similarly, Virtanen would never go top 10 in a redraft, but neither would Bennett, Dal Colle, Fleury or Ritchie.  Through no fault of his own, he's been a victim of high expectations.  A B.C. boy who plays a heavy game, people were hoping for Cam Neely, not Raffi Torres.  Fans want a home run every year but sometimes all you get is a guy who can play.

 

And that's what Virtanen is.  He's not Ehlers or Pastrnak but he's a solid player.  Benning didn't win the draft in 2014, just like Yzerman didn't win the draft in 2010, but he still got the Canucks a useful piece that can contribute to a winning team.  People who poop on Virtanen because he's not better than every single guy drafted after him are being unreasonable.  You would literally have to be God to pick the absolute best player every time you're at the draft table.

Connolly is exactly the guy JV reminds me of.  Just look at their hockeydb profiles.

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11 hours ago, N4ZZY said:

two point night for Jake against the Sharks. Good on him! 

I think he's going to have a great year ahead. Super happy for him, and I hope he keeps playing well with Horvat. 

 

He's on pace for 41 points this year, and I hope he keeps it up :) 

 

I have great hopes for Jake. If he hits 40 points then conversations about Jake will change. The season is early and pucks are definitely bouncing for the whole team right now. The experience of scoring on a high scoring team could cement Jake's future. By season's end I suspect Green wants  Jake to be a 200 foot player who comes up and down his wing something like Horvat does. Straight lines. Engages physically on a regular basis. His biggest assets IMHO are his speed and wicked wrister. Add regular physicality and Jake will be a impact player. 

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11 hours ago, Boudrias said:

I have great hopes for Jake. If he hits 40 points then conversations about Jake will change. The season is early and pucks are definitely bouncing for the whole team right now. The experience of scoring on a high scoring team could cement Jake's future. By season's end I suspect Green wants  Jake to be a 200 foot player who comes up and down his wing something like Horvat does. Straight lines. Engages physically on a regular basis. His biggest assets IMHO are his speed and wicked wrister. Add regular physicality and Jake will be a impact player. 

I am hopeful that Jake will become a huge part of the team moving forward. Like you say, it is early days, and it's a long season. I hope Jake becomes consistent with his play on the ice. He definitely seems like he's matured, and is taking his play on the ice more responsibly. Have you noticed a difference with his play from last season and so far this season? 

 

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10 hours ago, Dixon Ward said:

Right now he is tied for 34th in RW scoring with Kevin Hayes, Debrincat, and Cam Atkinson.  Ahead of Timo Meier and Nino Neidereiter. This puts him in the upper echelon of 2nd line RW.

 

If he finished around there, will this be enough to remove the word bust entirely from the conversation?  I think a solid scoring 2nd line RW is a pretty good result from a high draft pick.  He might even climb from there.

Let's hope so! 

 

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As far as Jake's game on Saturday is concerned, I think he looked good and got 2 points along with a solid game defensively.  I like that he is actually getting some consistency in his game.  If Jake scores 22 g this year, he won't be scoring every game so the important thing is that he contributes when he isn't scoring and I think Jake is doing much better at that.  Adam like Jake will struggle and get moved down a line when when the team needs more scoring.  It;s a team game and right now I like how the team looks and Jake is part of the team and contributing.  I also think Jake has improved his work along the boards and less give a ways

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22 hours ago, Dixon Ward said:

Right now he is tied for 34th in RW scoring with Kevin Hayes, Debrincat, and Cam Atkinson.  Ahead of Timo Meier and Nino Neidereiter. This puts him in the upper echelon of 2nd line RW.

 

If he finished around there, will this be enough to remove the word bust entirely from the conversation?  I think a solid scoring 2nd line RW is a pretty good result from a high draft pick.  He might even climb from there.

If he can maintain a 40 point 20 goal pace it would be a huge stride forward for him but it also it still early and a very short sample size. 4 goals, 7 points in 14 games isn’t that biggest sample to project off of.   In fact this time last year at the 14 game mark he was sitting with 5 goals and 7 points in 14 games, he maintained a similar pace up until the Christmas break where he had 11 goals, 18 points in 38 games. People were over the moon claiming him to be a top 10 player in his draft class until he followed that up with only  7 points in the final 32 games. 

 

One other thing to point out is you can’t really use the RW/LW/C argument as they aren’t too accurate.  For example NHL.com list only 86 RW to have played at least 1 game this years.  Now simple math would state something doesn’t add up, 31 team (each team should technically have 4 RW) = 124 RW.  The problem is forwards typically can play all positions.  Marner is listed as a C but he typically lines up on the RW with Tavares at center.  Lindholm plays RW alongside Monahan and Smurf but is listed as C.  

 

Heck NHL.com only has Canucks listed at 2 RW’s lol

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17 minutes ago, Hairy Kneel said:

I'd like to see Jake try out on the PK. His speed would get him breakaways for chances at SH goals. This speed would put more pressure on the opposition D men by making them scared to make a mistake that could cost them. SH goals are game changers. I think Jake would surprise us if that were tried out.

I have mixed feeling about him on the PK, particularly his lack of urgency and quick feet on defence to get in position could get him caught. I am liking our current Pk personnel for the moment anyway. his speed on turnovers is no doubt a threat for opponents though, similar to using him in overtime

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5 minutes ago, Chicken. said:

I have mixed feeling about him on the PK, particularly his lack of urgency and quick feet on defence to get in position could get him caught. I am liking our current Pk personnel for the moment anyway. his speed on turnovers is no doubt a threat for opponents though, similar to using him in overtime

Jake would likely be great on the PK.  He's smart defensively, and courageously blocks shots.  Plus, his speed is a constant threat.  However, is Jake the type of athlete capable of playing top 6 winger minutes, and playing the PK too?  Some guys just aren't as gifted, no matter how hard they train, aerobically as others.  

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52 minutes ago, Alflives said:

Jake would likely be great on the PK.  He's smart defensively, and courageously blocks shots.  Plus, his speed is a constant threat.  However, is Jake the type of athlete capable of playing top 6 winger minutes, and playing the PK too?  Some guys just aren't as gifted, no matter how hard they train, aerobically as others.  

He's barely avg 10 min a game so a few minutes here and there wouldn't hurt. He could help take a little wear and tear off Sutter on the PK. Sutter has had injury troubles before. But I doubt Green would try it.

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3 hours ago, Hairy Kneel said:

lI'd like to see Jake try out on the PK. His speed would get him breakaways for chances at SH goals. This speed would put more pressure on the opposition D men by making them scared to make a mistake that could cost them. SH goals are game changers. I think Jake would surprise us if that were tried out.

I thought we saw Jake on the PK for a while a few weeks ago, either in the pre-season or early in the regular season. Did I hallucinate that?

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38 minutes ago, WeneedLumme said:

I thought we saw Jake on the PK for a while a few weeks ago, either in the pre-season or early in the regular season. Did I hallucinate that?

Green has been trying it in practice.  They are working on it with him apparently. 

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12 hours ago, Hairy Kneel said:

I'd like to see Jake try out on the PK. His speed would get him breakaways for chances at SH goals. This speed would put more pressure on the opposition D men by making them scared to make a mistake that could cost them. SH goals are game changers. I think Jake would surprise us if that were tried out.

I was thinking that Jake might look good sitting in Ovie's spot on PP2. He can blast it and it might be a better option than Leivo.

 

I like that idea of the PK too. Hanson and Richardson both proved effective because of their speed. Again he would need to be with Sutter. I do not think he has much chemistry with Beagle.

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9 hours ago, WeneedLumme said:

I thought we saw Jake on the PK for a while a few weeks ago, either in the pre-season or early in the regular season. Did I hallucinate that?

I saw it too. Reg season and it was once or twice in the same game. Do not remember the game.

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