messier's_elbow Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 (edited) Give him the 9 games. Then he goes to play at the wjc. Then decide.I agree and the main reason I think he could stick is cause he needs better coaching. That and besides gaining some upper body strength he's ready to be a pro physically. Edited July 27, 2015 by messier's_elbow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nave Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 I don't know how but Virtanen needs to get his 9 game stint imo. It's important for his development. Maybe a trade or like I said there's usually someone injured anyways. This is the 6th overall pick from 2014. He needs to get a taste of the nhl. I think the Canucks drafted him because of what he might do with the Sedins. Expect him to get in quickly, but maybe not next season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeremyCuddles Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Trust me this kid is going to be a monster. His lower body is huge and his upper body isn't even close to filling out yet. He's gonna be a 225 pounder with blazing speed. He was 215 when he joined Utica. And management wants him around 205. I'd say 210 is the max weight he'd get to at the NHL level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Monahan Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 There isn't 'always someone injured' - you can't rely on that to save you from making roster decisions. If we don't make other moves then maybe Kenins goes down, but if Kenins deserves the spot more than Virtanen, do you still keep Virts for 9 games? Why would you if he doesn't show he deserves it? Hypothetically here, wouldn't it be kinda perfect if someone was put on the IR/LTIR during preseason to make room for Virtanen? That's if he's looking good of course. Similar to our cap flexibility with Salo being injured a few years ago. Hypothetically speaking...a player, we'll say Chris Higgins, suffers a strain of his supraspinatus playing table tennis and he's out until sometime in November/December. Jake comes up, plays 9 games, and looks either good enough to stick or the team sends him back to junior and he plays in the WJC. Perfect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rollieo Del Fuego Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Jake just needs to pot a couple or 3 goals in the (6?) game preseason, make at least one hit per game and he will get his 9 games. Benning has no issue with sending Kenins down if only for 9 games, if Jake shows that much in pre season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiggs50 Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 JB expects to carry 7 dmen and 14 forrwards. There's the spot... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coastal1 Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Hypothetically here, wouldn't it be kinda perfect if someone was put on the IR/LTIR during preseason to make room for Virtanen? That's if he's looking good of course. Similar to our cap flexibility with Salo being injured a few years ago. Hypothetically speaking...a player, we'll say Chris Higgins, suffers a strain of his supraspinatus playing table tennis and he's out until sometime in November/December. Jake comes up, plays 9 games, and looks either good enough to stick or the team sends him back to junior and he plays in the WJC. Perfect. Higgins is here and he will play. At this point in time, he is considered by Canucks management to be superior to Virtanen, that is the reality, end of dreaming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coastal1 Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Jake just needs to pot a couple or 3 goals in the (6?) game preseason, make at least one hit per game and he will get his 9 games. Benning has no issue with sending Kenins down if only for 9 games, if Jake shows that much in pre season. I think he almost scored in the AHL so he certainly can score in NHL pre-season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Monahan Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Higgins is here and he will play. At this point in time, he is considered by Canucks management to be superior to Virtanen, that is the reality, end of dreaming. It was simply wishful thinking. A "dream" scenario that would see Virt get some nhl time without losing any current roster players to trade, waivers, etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadcanucks Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 I think the Canucks drafted him because of what he might do with the Sedins. Expect him to get in quickly, but maybe not next season If Virtanen is 75% to 80% ready for the NHL, he should be in the line up and playing with the Sedins. Virtanen, with his speed on the forecheck might be just work with the Sedins. The Canucks could have the Scandinavian Connection as the first line (2 Swedes and a Finn). I could see this happening: Virtanen chases the puck down, gets it to the one of the Sedins, and the Sedins work their cycle magic (along the perimeter)...Virtanen goes to the net...puck goes to the point for a big blast. Oh wait, that's where the plan falls apart...pity that there isn't anyone on the backend other than Edler that can shoot the puck (on second thought, we've got that offensive dynamo Yannick Weber who scored 11 goals last season). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesB Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Higgins is here and he will play. At this point in time, he is considered by Canucks management to be superior to Virtanen, that is the reality, end of dreaming. Virtanen is an excellent prospect, but there are very few 19 year-olds (and Jake has not even turned 19 yet) who are as good as Higgins is right now. It is tougher to move from being a star in Junior to being an NHL regular than a lot of people think. The last three Canucks to play significant time as 19-year-olds are Horvat (last year), Kesler (12 years ago), and Linden (27 years ago) -- one a decade or so. So I agree that if the Canucks are trying to win games (as I think they are) Higgins has to be ahead of Virtanen on the depth chart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delta76 Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 (edited) We opened up a roster spot in the Sutter trade so Virtanen could get his 9 games without anyone being waved right? Edited July 29, 2015 by Delta76 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canucks Curse Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 I really would like to see virtanen with the twins- probably will happen in preseason. If Virt can do it would love: Sedin Sedin Virtanen Beart. Sutter Vrabata Burrows Horvat Hansen Prust Vey Dorsett Or at least virtanen 4RW, Dorsett 3LW, burrows 1RW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aGENT Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 (edited) We opened up a roster spot in the Sutter trade so Virtanen could get his 9 games without anyone being waved right? I doubt that was the prime motivation but yes a roster spot is open and any of Virtanen, Gaunce, Grenier, Kenins etc will be fighting for it. Edited July 29, 2015 by J.R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 (edited) I doubt that was the prime motivation but yes a roster spot is open and any of Virtanen, Gaunce, Grenier, Kenins etc will be fighting for it. That's assuming the loss of Clendening has shifted the lineup into a 14/7 instead of a 13/8 (forwards/defensemen). It could be that another defensemen is added to the NHL roster (either moving up from the current AHL depth or through another signing/trade). And Benning has recently been quoted (can't find the article right now) suggesting he sees Taylor Fedun as one of the players coming to camp who could be in the mix to compete for one of the final spots on the Canucks D. It's definitely going to be interesting to see what happens during camp/preseason. If the last spot on the 23 man roster remains "open" it'll be quite a dogfight to see who can seize the opportunity. That said, I do hope that one of the young forwards (like Virtanen) has an electrifying camp/preseason and forces his way into the lineup (and then plays well enough to stay up all season). That would certainly be a more entertaining result than just carrying a #8 defensemen for the press box. Edited July 29, 2015 by SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aGENT Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 (edited) That's assuming the loss of Clendening has shifted the lineup into a 14/7 instead of a 13/8 (forwards/defensemen). http://forum.canucks.com/topic/371358-benning-on-1040-post-sutter-trade/(Benning on 1040 Post Sutter Trade) -The opening roster will probably carry extra forwards as opposed to defenceman. They're still looking for D, however only if it's a dollar for dollar type trade.Based on what we currently know/have, that would be the assumption. Edited July 29, 2015 by J.R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coastal1 Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Bottom line is there are two ways to do this. The Edmonton way which seems very popular here: let a player who is 75% ready play and then sit back and watch the train wreck. Or there is the Detroit way, that no one seems to like: let him finish his hunior carreer, then a couple of years in the AHL and then ease him slowly onto the lineup over the next year after that. Sure it sounds more exciting to have Virtanen in the line up than Higgins, but that excitement is based on dreams, not reality. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathew Barzal Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 I don't see Jake fitting in with the Sedins anytime soon. Hank and Danny need a smart puck possession player with a good net front presence. IE Burrows Yeah, I also think Burrows will be their wingman this year. Vrbata should be the fall back if they hit a cold streak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aGENT Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Bottom line is there are two ways to do this. The Edmonton way which seems very popular here: let a player who is 75% ready play and then sit back and watch the train wreck. Or there is the Detroit way, that no one seems to like: let him finish his hunior carreer, then a couple of years in the AHL and then ease him slowly onto the lineup over the next year after that. Sure it sounds more exciting to have Virtanen in the line up than Higgins, but that excitement is based on dreams, not reality. The "Edmonton way" has far more to do with how the team was constructed and the amount of youth being played at once (in roles they weren't ready for) than simply "playing youth too early". Edmonton has lacked any sort of succession, any sort of veteran leadership and any sort of shelter for their youth to get their feet wet before being thrust in to roles they aren't ready for. There's like two guys that were legitimately "rushed" on Edmonton that shouldn't have been. The rest would have been just fine if inserted in lesser, more appropriate roles on a team with veteran leadership. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uselessstats Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 (edited) Bottom line is there are two ways to do this. The Edmonton way which seems very popular here: let a player who is 75% ready play and then sit back and watch the train wreck. Or there is the Detroit way, that no one seems to like: let him finish his hunior carreer, then a couple of years in the AHL and then ease him slowly onto the lineup over the next year after that. Sure it sounds more exciting to have Virtanen in the line up than Higgins, but that excitement is based on dreams, not reality. You make it sound like no team besides Edmonton has ever put a 19 year old on their roster. There are degrees in between your two extreme examples. Besides Bo was on the team last year at just 19. How badly did that go? Edited July 30, 2015 by uselessstats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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