Mathew Barzal Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 9 games for him? Sounds about right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlphaHoneyBadger Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 9 games for him? Sounds about right. I think they are all here to stay. We will see though. Ice the best team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aGENT Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 (edited) 9 games for him? Sounds about right. I think they are all here to stay. We will see though. Ice the best team. I think he'll get more than 9 games for sure. My guess is he swaps in playing ~1/2 (more if there's injuries) the games between now and WJC, goes to WJC and they make a call on him from there. If he's progressing nicely (as I expect he will), they'll look at starting to make some trades to get him in the lineup more regularly. If he doesn't progress, they send him back to the Hitmen. Short of him crapping the bed, he's here until ~Christmas IMO. Edited October 5, 2015 by J.R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathew Barzal Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 I think they are all here to stay. We will see though. Ice the best team. Just don't want Bennings hand forced to trade for low returns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoodCanadianKideh Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 It's interesting to see that Jake Virtanen made a pretty good Canuck team out of training camp, while Nylander and Draisaitl were sent down from arguably lesser teams in TO and EDM. Good work Jake and Jared!!! Looking like extremely smart picks by JB! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baumerman77 Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 (edited) I think he'll get more than 9 games for sure. My guess is he swaps in playing ~1/2 (more if there's injuries) the games between now and WJC, goes to WJC and they make a call on him from there. If he's progressing nicely (as I expect he will), they'll look at starting to make some trades to get him in the lineup more regularly. If he doesn't progress, they send him back to the Hitmen. Short of him crapping the bed, he's here until ~Christmas IMO. I agree. I think the Canucks care more about the 39 game mark than the 9 game mark. Edited October 5, 2015 by baumerman77 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlphaHoneyBadger Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 Just don't want Bennings hand forced to trade for low returns. True, that's always a fear. Not a lot of track record yet. McCann seems like a steal now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JiffyPB Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 I agree. I think the Canucks care more about the 39 game mark than the 9 game mark. FTFY. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uselessstats Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 It's interesting to see that Jake Virtanen made a pretty good Canuck team out of training camp, while Nylander and Draisaitl were sent down from arguably lesser teams in TO and EDM. Good work Jake and Jared!!! Looking like extremely smart picks by JB! To be fair Toronto sent Nylander to their AHL team which we could not do with Jake. Be interesting to see what decision Benning makes if Jake's options were AHL- NHL and not WHL-NHL. And that's not a swipe at all at Jake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derp... Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 Woop woop Virtanen will be fun to watch this year. Super excited for Jared, kinda still seems like a dream that they are on the team. Especially if jared is playing a 3rd centre spot to start the season! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanucksJay Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 (edited) Sweet, 19 year old Jake Virtanen and 19 year old Jared McCann vs 19 year old Sam Bennett. 20 year old Horvat vs 20 year old Monahan. 22 year old Hutton vs 22 year old Gaudreau 23 year old Baerstchi And then there's guys like Gaunce, Shinkauruk, Cassels with Demko not far away. I can't believe we had such a quick rebuild without sucking for am eternity like the flames. I bet our average age dropped tons this summer and by trade deadline it will drop even more possibly by removing vets like Higgins, Vrbata and adding guys like Gaunce and Shinkauruk. We're pretty lucky. Edited October 6, 2015 by CanucksJay 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derp... Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 The best part is these guys earned spots and weren't gifted them. They know they need to bring it every night if they want to stay up as well. I think Virtanen will have the easiest time being in the lineup because he can get away with 10 mins of hard checking a night and still progress. Hutton and McCann will probably have short leashes, but also have tremendous upside to show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nave Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 I think they were banking on Virt to make the lineup, but when Hutton and McCann performed like they did they were like "holy sh!t." Pretty amazing what a seamless rebuild we've had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McBackup Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 I think they were banking on Virt to make the lineup, but when Hutton and McCann performed like they did they were like "holy sh!t." Pretty amazing what a seamless rebuild we've had. I'm excited too, but adding 3 rookies does not constitute a seamless rebuild. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
messier's_elbow Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 I'm excited too, but adding 3 rookies does not constitute a seamless rebuild.Gaunce is soon behind as well. Shinkaruk and grenier next season possibly. You need to have some vets in the line up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
people please Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 Just thought you would like to know the nick name Nylander has earned in TO: "Wee Willy". To me that suggests soft, small, tiny, Smurflike. We have a freight train in Big Jake. Just saying:) The leafs media hates on everyone, even blamed kessel for the team being trash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
logic Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 Let's say Virt just has an OK 9 games, I say we send him back to junior to have a strong offensive year, and a good WJC. Then we could call up Gaunce for fourth line duties and revert Burrows back to RW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derp... Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 Let's say Virt just has an OK 9 games, I say we send him back to junior to have a strong offensive year, and a good WJC. Then we could call up Gaunce for fourth line duties and revert Burrows back to RW Nah. Let's keep him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSnipeshow91 Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 Prust-Horvat-Virtanen would be a nasty 3rd line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baumerman77 Posted October 7, 2015 Share Posted October 7, 2015 There are three narratives which I will be paying close attention to through Virtanen's first 9 games: Penalties: Virtanen has always been, and likely always will be, a guy who collects a lot of PIMs. At times he has been criticized for taking bad penalties. And these penalties are not always a product of his physicality. Oddly enough, as a fast winger with less defensive responsibility he does tend to take quite a few hooking and holding penalties. I think his penalty differential will be something to keep an eye on. If he is taking a lot more than he is drawing, I think it could hurt his chances of staying with the team passed 9 games. Neutral Zone Decisions: This relates to the ill-defined "hockey IQ" and Virtanen's defensive abilities. At times in the preseason Virtanen has made very nice, quick, moves and passes to advance the puck through the neutral zone (think with Horvat). However, at other times he has made suicide passes that have resulted in goals or bad turnovers (SJ game). These decisions can either really help or really hurt hurt his chances of staying longer. One other thing in this category which will be interesting to watch is how often Virtanen gets caught out of position on the back-check. During his junior career, I have often noticed that Virtanen might go for a big hit when fore-checking which puts him out of position on the back-check through the neutral zone. In junior, his speed advantage often allowed him to make up the gap, but in the faster NHL it will be interesting to see if he gets caught up ice. Physicality: One of the popular narratives on CDC (especially when comparing Virtanen to Ehlers or Nylander) is that Virtanen does other things (AKA plays physical) when he isn't creating offense. No doubt Virtanen is a very physical player, but from my experience he can disappear for shifts and periods. I've seen Virtanen play in about 25 live WHL games (and of course AHL playoffs, WJC, and NHL pre-season) and I have noticed sometimes he isn't physical or offensive or really involved in any way even when I was specifically watching out for him. Now this is often common for junior players (especially highly skilled ones who can afford to take a shift or two off) and I don't think it is cause for concern in the long run. But as for his first 9 games, I will be paying close attention to see if he can play that 4th line energy role where he is called upon after sitting for a while to supply energy through his physicality. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now