Jake Virtanen | #18 | RW

[Plum]

Ehlers and Nylander are putting up a lot of points and obviously it's going to concern some of us but here's my take. The junior game is suited for Ehlers, he feeds off open ice and weak defence. He'll skate around the whole zone and he's much more skilled than anyone else. Virtanen isn't a skilled player, his hands aren't that good but he plays a simple, hard-nosed game. In the NHL, the defences are strong and the coaches don't give stars up any space. Crosby doesn't have any space, stick a guy on him for his whole shift just so you won't get scored on. Tarasenko and Voracek broke out because coaches weren't focused on them and these players took advantage of opposing players not all over them. We'd all be going 110% when we're playing against Crosby, not so much if you're playing against Tarasenko. That's an example of NHL not giving star players any space while Ehlers has plenty much space in junior.

Even if Virtanen doesn't produce it doesn't bother me because he's a heavy player that does so much else. He's a heavy player and so hard to contain with great speed, a heavy shot and strength. Everybody knows what tools he possesses. Virtanen is a complimentary winger in the top 6, creates space and does the dirty work. Crosby is great with guys like Kunitz/Hornqvist/Perron. Just like in the Olympics when he was with Bergeron/Iginla/Kunitz. Somebody has to do the dirty work and it'll be Virtanen for us while possessing a shot and speed.

Not the strongest finish to the regular season, but he's got some time in the playoffs. I think against Kootney as well right?

Medicine Hat has 92 points and Calgary has 93, both have 1 game remaining so for Calgary it's either Kootney/Red Deer. Edited March 21, 2015 by Plum

[DeNiro]

Virtanen isn't a skilled player, his hands aren't that good

[Rollieo Del Fuego]

It's not his hands...it's his wingers/center that aren't that good.

Put him with Horvat and Kenins and watch the bodies fly and the goals rack up!

[uselessstats]

I was expecting that category myself. And there is a good chance Virtanen would have come first. I still find it disappointing that with his skills (great shot, great skating, very good size and strength, high intensity) he does not do better on the scoreboard.

His numbers aren't bad but, for a #6 overall pick, are not great either. With his skills, size, and toughness he seems like a lock to be at least a decent NHL player. But it is far from obvious he will develop into a high-end scorer.

One of the things to consider with Virtanen is how he was deployed on the Hitmen's powerplay. When you look at the top players from the 2014 draft, you see that most of them produced 40-50% of their PPG on the powerplay.

Name / ES PPG / Special Teams PPG / Total PPG

Perlini .98 /.43 / 1.41

Scherbak .92 /.35 / 1.27

Ho-Sang .86 /.48 / 1.34

Reinhart .85 /.48 / 1.33

Draisaitl .84 /.77 / 1.61

McCann .83 / .60 / 1.43

Dal Colle .82 / .84 / 1.66

Milano .78 /.68 / 1.36

Virtanen .73 / .33 / 1.06

Ritchie .72 /.48 / 1.20

You can see that Virtanen's ES PPG is much closer to guys like MDC, Milano, McCann, and Draisaitl. Where they really boost their overall PPG is through their team's powerplay. Since powerplays are largely a function of who you play with, how many minutes you get, and how much of the PP touches run through you, it is hard to say whether his PPG reflects Jake's abilities as much as the efficiency of and how he is used on Calgary's PP.

Anyway, just something to consider before writing off his season entirely.

Edited March 21, 2015 by uselessstats

[Derp...]

Plus there's the whole 10 more minuets of ice time most of those guys get.

[DeNiro]

Plus there's the whole 10 more minuets of ice time most of those guys get.

Exactly. The 19 year olds on that team get the top minutes.

Nothing wrong with that. It just teaches him he has to earn his ice time.

Next season, he'll be the vet leading the way and getting all the prime minutes.

[WonderTwinPowers]

Exactly. The 19 year olds on that team get the top minutes.

Nothing wrong with that. It just teaches him he has to earn his ice time.

Next season, he'll be the vet leading the way and getting all the prime minutes.

And then peoples will find something else to rag on him about. Like how he's only producing against 16/17 years olds. So we'll get to read/argue about that for a year, looking forward to it!

[Jiggs50]

If his team gets eliminated and the Canucks make the playoffs, he can play for us right!?

[Guest Dasein]

If his team gets eliminated and the Canucks make the playoffs, he can play for us right!?

Yeah but he won't get a single minute of playing time

Maybe Utica, or if the Canucks think it'll benefit him to just practice in the NHL than having a chance to play in the AHL, he'll be here practicing

Edited March 21, 2015 by Dasein

[Crabcakes]

Jake is going to be a good player in the NHL for a long time. If things go well, he could be a first line player.

He is 18 years old and plays Junior against 16-20 year old players. To suggest that he would have made the Canucks last year if not for his shoulder injury is fantasy. The Canucks were already carrying 2 young projects in Linden Vey and Bo Horvat. If you look at the Canucks and their prospects from the top down, you will see that he is down the depth chart for right wing behind Vrbata, Burrows, Hansen, Kassian, Vey, Jensen, and Grenier. He will certainly jump up a few spots but these guys ahead of him have all played pro hockey and Jake has not. There is a big difference but granted, at 210, Jake has the size.

Benning said earlier in the year that there was a chance that Virtanen could make the Canucks next year if everything went well for him in the offseason. Since then, Benning has acquired LW Sven Baertchi who at 23, will have to clear waivers to play in the AHL so he will start the year with the Canucks or else Benning would have given away a 2nd pick for nothing. Clendening is in the same boat so for next year, the Canucks will be carrying projects in Baertchi, Clendening and Vey.

I would suggest that he has a real chance of making the Canucks the following year as a 20 year old and may split his time between Utica and Vancouver in 2016/17.

Edited March 21, 2015 by Crabcakes

[Plum]

That's nice but plenty of players can do that in junior. He's not a fast stickhandler or a slick player.

[Jiggs50]

Yeah but he won't get a single minute of playing time

Maybe Utica, or if the Canucks think it'll benefit him to just practice in the NHL than having a chance to play in the AHL, he'll be here practicing

Thanks. Yeah you never know with injuries and all so I wouldn't rule it out.

[Guest Dasein]

D Sedin - H Sedin - Burrows

Higgins - Bonino - Vrbata

Matthias - Richardson - Kassian

Dorsett - Horvat - Hansen

Kenins

Vey

McMillan

Baertschi

Jensen

Gaunce

DeFazio

So... yeah

[uselessstats]

That's nice but plenty of players can do that in junior. He's not a fast stickhandler or a slick player.

Not many of them are 6'1 210 lbs and strong as a bull on skates. I'd easily take Jake's blend of power and skill over a 5'10 featherweight with faster dangles at the NHL level. He may not be able to dangle NHL defensemen like that often but he'll definitely create time and space with those skills.

[DeNiro]

That's nice but plenty of players can do that in junior. He's not a fast stickhandler or a slick player.

You said he doesn't have good hands though, which clearly he does.

Whether it's junior or not, your point is wrong. He can stick handle at top speed.

[Ghostsof1915]

That's nice but plenty of players can do that in junior. He's not a fast stickhandler or a slick player.

Sounds like the scouts/experts disagree with you.

[DeNiro]

Oh come on, you can find clips on any player displaying good stick handling at some point. Showing one video of a nice deke doesn't justify anything. I'm not denying his puck skills im just trying to make a point

I could post a dozen videos, but I'm not going to.

The bottom line is you don't make moves like that at top speed if you don't have good stickhandling. It's not like that's the only time he's made a move like that, that's simply one example.

[Plum]

You said he doesn't have good hands though, which clearly he does.

Whether it's junior or not, your point is wrong. He can stick handle at top speed.

Sounds like the scouts/experts disagree with you.

He can stick handle at top speed, that's fine. But he doesn't have that good of hands, he's a straight-line player like Bob McKenzie said. Physical, skate well, shoots the puck hard. He has a great simple game, he doesn't have a lot of finesse to his game or creativity like Bob mentioned.

There's nothing wrong with that, Lucic doesn't have good hands either. Plenty of players don't, even Getzlaf isn't much of a good stick handler.

Not many of them are 6'1 210 lbs and strong as a bull on skates. I'd easily take Jake's blend of power and skill over a 5'10 featherweight with faster dangles at the NHL level. He may not be able to dangle NHL defensemen like that often but he'll definitely create time and space with those skills.

Yeah, I said that in a page back that he's a hard player to contain and creates space for other players with his big body.

[Sean Monahan]

He can stick handle at top speed, that's fine. But he doesn't have that good of hands, he's a straight-line player like Bob McKenzie said. Physical, skate well, shoots the puck hard. He has a great simple game, he doesn't have a lot of finesse to his game or creativity like Bob mentioned.

There's nothing wrong with that, Lucic doesn't have good hands either. Plenty of players don't, even Getzlaf isn't much of a good stick handler.

Yeah, I said that in a page back that he's a hard player to contain and creates space for other players with his big body.

The term "hands" doesn't lend itself exclusively to stick handling, though that definitely is a key part of it. In terms of jake, where his hands really shine is his ability to release a hard shot with a very quick release. Edited March 21, 2015 by Wild Sean Monahan

[messier's_elbow]

Haha I thought he was a lock to make it next year? lul.

I seriously doubt he'll be on the team. He needs to control his play, and develop maturity. Like Horvat, though, the best place would be the AHL, sadly.

Have you been watching Horvat play this year??? Edited March 21, 2015 by messier's_elbow