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Jake Virtanen | #18 | RW


avelanch

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A shoot first guy as a winger vs. a center is completely different. There will be times on the future where we will be fed up when Virtanen goes for a shot but it won't be as bad as Kesler.

Totally this. Kesler is a centre. Him shooting means the play is dead if he doesn't score. Jake shooting off the wing means the play has just begun. If by some stroke he ends up playing with Bo, we're gonna see a lot of Jake's rebounds end up in the back of the net.

Watching the game last night, I realized it's not the hits that set Jake a part (despite him clearly intimidating the other guys out there), it's his speed. We haven't had a player with this much speed since Raymond, and he's a lot stronger. Kind of like an advanced Hansen.

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Would be excited to see him and Bo together in the near future, even if it's on the 3rd line next season.

Both guys have good straight line speed and their styles should be complementary, and if they get a chance with Sven that'd add the creative element to Bo's two-way game and Jake's crash-and-bang/ scoring.

Good on him also for playing an all-round game (team-leading 7 shots, even +/-, bunch of hits) last night. Hopefully he'd have more in terms of production in future games and that he'd continue to develop into a top-end contributor rather than primarily hitting, but no complaints from last night's showing.

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Totally this. Kesler is a centre. Him shooting means the play is dead if he doesn't score. Jake shooting off the wing means the play has just begun. If by some stroke he ends up playing with Bo, we're gonna see a lot of Jake's rebounds end up in the back of the net.

Watching the game last night, I realized it's not the hits that set Jake a part (despite him clearly intimidating the other guys out there), it's his speed. We haven't had a player with this much speed since Raymond, and he's a lot stronger. Kind of like an advanced Hansen.

I don't want a bigger faster Raymond or an advanced Hansen where Jake was drafted. I want him to score with that deadly shot in the slot like he did in his draft year. Since then i have rarely see that shot or that world class backhand in close around the net. Hopefully he can put some scoring together along with his hitting.
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I don't want a bigger faster Raymond or an advanced Hansen where Jake was drafted. I want him to score with that deadly shot in the slot like he did in his draft year. Since then i have rarely see that shot or that world class backhand in close around the net. Hopefully he can put some scoring together along with his hitting.

The talent dipped after 4-5th overall man, get over it.

Nylander and Ehlers bring different elements to their teams, but I don't see either out-performing Jake in terms of overall game. They're all pretty close.

But for building a new core, you take the big, strong, speedy Canadian kid 9 times outta 10.

His shot is elite, that didn't disappear, he's just not Ovechkin man. It's hard when you get so few cracks at a top 10 draft pick, and yeah we could have used a clear 1C or whatever, but this kid makes our team better no matter which way you slice it. Besides, we're clearing out Hammer and Vrbata at the deadline, maybe this is the year Benning goes hard after a real phenom.

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I don't want a bigger faster Raymond or an advanced Hansen where Jake was drafted. I want him to score with that deadly shot in the slot like he did in his draft year. Since then i have rarely see that shot or that world class backhand in close around the net. Hopefully he can put some scoring together along with his hitting.

I haven't seen that backhand in a while, he needs to start using it more.

I think once he gets some good linemates with the Canucks he'll start looking like he did in his draft year.

The surgery and recovery probably affected his shot and he's lost a bit of confidence in it since. Once he scores a few it will come back.

His game just seems made for the NHL.

A Virtanen-Horvat-Hansen line would be unreal.

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I haven't seen that backhand in a while, he needs to start using it more.

I think once he gets some good linemates with the Canucks he'll start looking like he did in his draft year.

The surgery and recovery probably affected his shot and he's lost a bit of confidence in it since. Once he scores a few it will come back.

His game just seems made for the NHL.

A Virtanen-Horvat-Hansen line would be unreal.

It's been said a few times in this thread but I'd love to see a baerschi-Horvat-Virt line. The speed on the wings could be a ton of fun to watch.

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Yeah that too, but I doubt WD would try this. Unless it was late in the season.

i could see virt on horvats wing. And it would probably be a good idea to try and find some young guys who can play together. I don't know if I would do a complete kids line but have a horvat, virt, burrows/Higgins/Dorsett Esq type player. Someone that plays a hard smart game. But I'm not a coach.
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Ok, I didn't want to be the one who brought this up but I'm going to.

I can't be the only one thinking if Kassian played at 3/4's of Virtanen's intensity he'd be on the second line still with the Canucks, if not the first line.

he was such a menace out there lol.

Wow if he can do that for over 70 games a season. Omg.

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Like I said before, the Canucks--for perhaps the first time in history--have many young guys that can come in and play. Virtanen is jus one of em.

I dont remember us ever having this many legit prospects at one time. The depth is rapidly growing.

The Moose explosion is really the only exception to our horrible history of development over the past 40+ years.

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