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Jake Virtanen | #18 | RW


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23 minutes ago, DownUndaCanuck said:

This is true, my only argument is that it's much easier to find a physical forward who can pot 20 goals in later rounds/UFA/trades compared to that elite, top end offensive ability-type center. It's a bit similar to how defencemen are rarely picked high because of the same reason - powerforwards and defencemen take longer to develop and drafting them doesn't really matter as much as developing them. On the otherhand, pure offensive talent is harder to teach and develop and is something a player either has or doesn't by 18, which is why I personally believe you should draft for that and develop powerforwards from later rounds similarly to how many teams approach defencemen - taking them in later rounds and developing them.

Good point.  Time will tell whether what Virtanen brings is similar in value to what some of the high skill guys close to him in the draft bring.  It's really like comparing apples and oranges in a way.

I was actually surprised at the time that Benning took who was obviously the local favorite in the draft. 

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1 hour ago, The 5th Line said:

Yeah Jake was a huge difference maker with his physical play on boxing day!  All those hits he was delivering almost got us that late goal we desperately needed! 

I accept your criticism of Jake.  I have no problem with a fair critique of any player.  Jake clearly needs to develop a mature game.  

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1 hour ago, BanTSN said:

Why is it that people are still discussing the 2014 draft and not the prospect in question?

"I believe that we should have selected..."  And?  Go and invent a time machine and then do a better job convincing Jim Benning that your approach is better than his.

Don't worry, there is enough game-to-game nitpicking to fill this thread your useless drivel, you handful of nancyposters.

Clearly they know more than Benning.. :rolleyes:

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4 hours ago, BanTSN said:

Why is it that people are still discussing the 2014 draft and not the prospect in question?

"I believe that we should have selected..."  And?  Go and invent a time machine and then do a better job convincing Jim Benning that your approach is better than his.

Don't worry, there is enough game-to-game nitpicking to fill this thread your useless drivel, you handful of nancyposters.

Nothing wrong with critiquing a player, especially one like JV who IMO didn't deserve to get picked so high.

Can you imagine if this thread was filled with empty compliments of his play? How boring would that be?

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I thought he looked okay out there last game. He's probably not feeling very confident right now because the Canucks pushed him into a league that he probably wasn't ready to play in yet but hopefully he gets some of that back as the tournament progresses.

Edited by Salmonberries
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8 hours ago, BanTSN said:

Why is it that people are still discussing the 2014 draft and not the prospect in question?

"I believe that we should have selected..."  And?  Go and invent a time machine and then do a better job convincing Jim Benning that your approach is better than his.

Don't worry, there is enough game-to-game nitpicking to fill this thread your useless drivel, you handful of nancyposters.

 

3 hours ago, guntrix said:

Nothing wrong with critiquing a player, especially one like JV who IMO didn't deserve to get picked so high.

Can you imagine if this thread was filled with empty compliments of his play? How boring would that be?

Critiquing the choice of pick is a critique of management, not the player.

There's nothing wrong with critiquing management and there's nothing wrong with critiquing the player.  The issue is the choice of thread in which to do it.

No doubt there are management threads where one can agree or disagree with Benning's moves and there was no doubt a 2014 draft thread in which to discuss the choices made in the 2014 draft.

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3 hours ago, Salmonberries said:

I thought he looked okay out there last game. He's probably not feeling very confident right now because the Canucks pushed him into a league that he probably wasn't ready to play in yet but hopefully he gets some of that back as the tournament progresses.

Yeah that's rich. 90% of CDC were rabid in the way they demanded he start in the NHL. over half of these still insisted he should stay after 9 games (including me)

Jake himself was desperate to stick. 

Let's not get too hypocritical with our hindsight :P

Edited by alfstonker
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Just watched a JV interview pregame with Gord Miller.

As a 19 year old and returning member of Team Canada and as a player on loan from an NHL team, Jake is feeling tremendous pressure to perform.  He wants to be a go to guy in key situations.

The rest of the interview was about his family.  Jakes father was born in Finland and he is meeting lots of family while visiting there.  Cool trip for him.

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I don't have a problem with how Virtanen is playing in the World Juniors so far.  He does need to put up numbers eventually but it can take awhile to develop chemistry at the WJC.  He's not a pure skill guy and his game seems to be generating chances from defensive breakdowns off his forecheck.  It's not like he has gone overboard with his physical play either penalizing his team  He may need to adapt himself a bit to his linemates' styles of play but he also has to play his game to develop confidence.

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7 minutes ago, AlphaHoneyBadger said:

Where is Jake's fire? I thought he was part Finnish, which is supposed to come with a fire in the belly. He should look like a shark hunting prey, instead he looks like sebastien, the whale washing dolphin.

I agree with your post. However can you explain that last part to me? 

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