Jake Virtanen | #18 | RW

[messier's_elbow]

4 minutes ago, Mathew Barzal said:

The one that took me over 2015 in a blink of the eye..

Your way to impatient with Virtanen. 

[Mathew Barzal]

Just now, messier's_elbow said:

Your way to impatient with Virtanen. 

Probably...

[ice orca]

7 hours ago, AlphaHoneyBadger said:

You two should go have a love in on another board. We get it, you don't like Jake, now move along. 

Thats a bit of a defeatist attitude.

[CANUCK-EXPRESS]

7 hours ago, DeltaSwede said:

I said a few days before Jake was kept in the NHL that he shouldn't be there. I think Benning felt his hand was forced since McCann was going to make the team and it would look bad on the Canucks and Jake if the higher drafted player didn't make the team as well.

Jake is a project, he's not a finished product. You can't deny he can compete physically at the NHL level, but we don't want him to be a 4th line player, we want him to be a dominant offensive force. The way I see things, screw the ELC stuff, send him back to Juniors and be extremely honest with him. Tell him he hasn't performed well enough to stick in the NHL and that he needs to go back and work his butt off to get better. He looked more impressive in his draft year and he should be reminded that just because you got drafted, you haven't made it yet.

It was a mistake to keep him past the 9 games because he wasn't ready. It worked for Draisaitl and Edmonton. It will work for Virtanen. He just needs more time to develop than other players selected around him and there is nothing wrong with that.

No? Didn't Linden say they already had Jake pencilled in? But I agree with everything.

[CanucksJay]

8 hours ago, Cowardrobertford said:

 

Good for you, but I've read same reasons why Jake shouldn't be called a failure:

Jake had big bidy, means he's better

Ehlers production dropped off, Virt is still better even if he hadnt been productive in any of his time in the NHL, and you know 19 yr old rookie, production doesn't really matter for 19 yr old rookies

Ehlers is more dynamic offensively and has great Hky IQ

McCann too got smoked by a Russian, and had a concussions before, Virt had Shoulder injury, shink had Hip injury too

Warhippy would also hate you for projectingal  a 19 yr n a half prospect,  with 40 game less NHL exp and over 8 games WJC exp, NHL Career to him, you'd be a fool

As for sanhiem and Perlini they've contributed more to TC than Jake have

You do realize that after all that gibberish you wrote, the only thing you wrote that remotely supports your argument is that Ehlers is more dynamic offensively and has better hockey IQ. 

Anyway, I'll revisit this thread in 3 years. 

My thoughts are that Ehlers and Nylander will be scoring wingers and Virtanen will be a lucic like winger with more speed and less douche. 

With players like the Sedins, McCann, Baerstchi, I'd rather have a Lucic to compliment them rather than another McCann. 

 

[Boudrias]

17 hours ago, DeNiro said:

Anyone who thinks high hockey IQ equals success in the playoffs needs to go watch some playoffs games.

The teams that play simple consistent hockey are the ones that have success. That's why Sutter is such a good coach, he keeps it simple. Move the puck up, chip it in, forecheck hard, retrieve puck, crash the net, score garbage goals, repeat. If you can do that consistently in the playoffs you'll have success.

Pretty accurate assessment. Exactly as you said I always found that eliminating mistakes did more for team success than great plays. A solid physical team saps the strength of opponents more than not.

The easterners finally had enough of Sutter as he won year after year. He picked his team heavily from the WHL and knew the type of player that could win.

IMHO this year's WJC Canada team does not seem to have a identity. Virtanen and Crouse came out banging the Swedes and the rest of the roster followed. For whatever reason they did not continue. Player selection seemed to be on smaller players with speed and yet I do not see great speed.

Have not seen the Finns or Russians yet. IMO the USA is the team to beat in Canada's division. Canada will not medal for sure.  

[Boudrias]

18 hours ago, DeNiro said:

You don't understand the importance of a supporting cast then.

Virtanen may not end up becoming a star, that doesn't mean these players aren't a critical part of a Stanley Cup winner. You're ignoring how important the Bruins and Kings physical game was to them winning.

Lucic and Horton were huge parts of their run, not mention Recchi. The whole team played a north-south game. The same game Virtanen plays. Brown, Richards, and Williams all play the same straight line game too.

 

 

A + because so many fans grade players solely on the ppg stat. Benning is building a roster that can compete physically and that is long overdue. Virtanen was the obvious choice to start with. When Beiga jumped the King who elbowed Hank it was out of the box considering what happened in Calgary last spring. Canucks have had a sad history of looking the other way.

Gary Vaulk comes out win real gems on a regular basis. He cut to the quick the other night after the Sedin hit by saying a Canuck on the next shift had to go after Kopitar or equivalent. It is the only way to prevent your starts from being ran. Any NHL team playing the Canucks know that stopping the Twins will shutdown the Canucks and win them the game.  

[higgyfan]

7 hours ago, Mathew Barzal said:

It's really sad, I didn't like Virtanen but I had hope he'd at least come close to Booth pre-concussion. His low hockey IQ is holding him back immensely. If Canada wants to go far in this tourney they're going to have to run 3 lines. Virtanen being on the fourth.

Hockey sense can be taught, but requires good, knowledgeable coaching.  This is why it is really important for Virt to join Utica and spend some time with TG.

I suspect that the Canucks did not think he would get the kind of coaching he needs in Calgary and this is why he stayed with the big club.  He is physically ready, but not mentally.

He is one of the building blocks of the future Canucks.  He won't be a huge point getter, but will fulfill a role that this team has needed for a long, long time.

[Alflives]

1 minute ago, higgyfan said:

Hockey sense can be taught, but requires good, knowledgeable coaching.  This is why it is really important for Virt to join Utica and spend some time with TG.

I suspect that the Canucks did not think he would get the kind of coaching he needs in Calgary and this is why he stayed with the big club.  He is physically ready, but not mentally.

He is one of the building blocks of the future Canucks.  He won't be a huge point getter, but will fulfill a role that this team has needed for a long, long time.

There are several posters here indicating JV is none too bright.  Maybe he is a post brain?  I don't know.  What I do see is a player trying to do too much.  He should stay on his wing, bang bodies, and be a serious puck hound.  He should move the puck quickly all over the ice, except in the offencive zone  - below the red line.  He should possess it there.  He should work hard to win the battles along the walls, and in front of both nets.  AND WHEN HE GETS A SCORING CHANCE SHOOT. 

[Down by the River]

JV has really disappointed me this tournament. That said, there were moments where he showed the player he could be. I think he needs stability above all else. He's played very very little hockey with the same linemates/same system in the last 3 years. That's a long time during a critical developmental period.

Send him back to Calgary (I'm one of the first to admit I don't like their structure), let him have a consistent voice/consistent linemates, and then send him to Utica Fall 2016. Hopefully Green will be re-signed and Virtanen can have some stability. 

It is easy to call out his IQ, but at the same time, it is a lot easier to be in the right position when you have a clarified role. JV needs to have been given a PROPER chance before he is written off. 

[higgyfan]

8 minutes ago, Alflives said:

There are several posters here indicating JV is none too bright.  Maybe he is a post brain?  I don't know.  What I do see is a player trying to do too much.  He should stay on his wing, bang bodies, and be a serious puck hound.  He should move the puck quickly all over the ice, except in the offencive zone  - below the red line.  He should possess it there.  He should work hard to win the battles along the walls, and in front of both nets.  AND WHEN HE GETS A SCORING CHANCE SHOOT. 

That's why I call it hockey sense, not IQ.  It has nothing to do with intelligence; it's just a lacking in reading the game effectively.

As I've said, hockey sense is something that can be taught by dedicated and smart coaching.  If anything, Jake is an eager and enthusiastic player who appears to be open to learning the game.  I think he will improve his HS after spending time in Utica.

Some people have mechanical sense, but that doesn't make them a genius; just makes it easier for them to learn the basics.

 

[Derp...]

On 12/30/2015 at 2:21 AM, Drakrami said:

rofl. 

This guy probably thinks hes not a virgin anymore because hes looked at girls enough. 

Lol ya totally, shooting a puck at a net is the equivalent to looking at girls, just like scoring a goal is the equivalent to having sex. Totally makes sense, not immature or misogynistic at all.

[JiffyPB]

Biggest lies/myths supporters use for Virtanen:

1. Forgive his piss poor play because he was 1 month away from being eligible for the 2015 draft. This means absolutely nothing. It would be as utterly stupid as suggesting it is more spectacular for a November born 4th grader to get a B+ than a March born 4th grader to get an A. They're still 4th graders. He is developmentally no different than his other 96 born peers like McCann. The only place this argument was relevant is in comparison to Nick Ritchie, who was ACTUALLY a year older than him and was being drafted in what was his 3rd CHL season. The reason people preferred Virtanen over Ritchie was that Jake scored more goals than him and had 2 more years to show growth, where Ritchie only had 1 more and pretty much you were gonna get what you were seeing from him then.

2. The Hitmen are a bad developmental organization. The Hitmen are a very good organization and had no problems developing Sanheim (a PPG defenseman), Chase, Tambellini, Fazleev and upcoming projected 1st rounder Jake Bean, but somehow because Virtanen was struggling the Hitmen must be very bad. Other notable alumini off the top of my head include Martin Jones, Ryan Getzlaf and Andrew Ladd. But yeah, he Hitmen just suck at developing players. Maybe it's just Jake, not the organization. While the coach did juggle his line (even in ways that puzzled me at times) look at the other side of the equation. Much like Baertschi with WD, Virtanen just doesn't do some of the things the coach wants him to do and thus would continue to lose his trust. Jake is a 1st overall pick. Do you not think it would reflect very poorly on the organization if they didn't use their OWN damn 1st overall crown jewel in as favorable of a position as they could have. The reason his line would get juggled and he would get bounced around because his game at certain times would be THAT poor and frustrating to watch.

3. He should stay up here because he already dominated the WHL. Being a measly PPG player when your own team has a PPG defenseman is laughable. He even had 1st unit PP duties in his draft+1 season that he didn't have before and only managed 21 goals, which leads to the next excuse...

4. He struggled because he was injured. Most people already expected him not to be some 100 point player or a 1.5 PPG player because of injury. I think Nino Niederreiter was the expected production for him (70 points in 55 games, 30ish goals) and even then he failed. But the reason he failed wasn't because his start was that poor. Here is is game log (http://whl.ca/roster/gamebygame/id/26161/ls_season/249). By the end of January he had 37 points in 29 games, which is what was expected from him and there was very little whining about his play at that point. He managed 15 points in the next 21 games to END the season. In February he went on a cold streak and managed only 1 point in 7 games to start the month before recovering with a serious of multi point games the rest of the month. Then in March his game fell off a cliff and he went cold again managing only 4 points in 9 games. Do you honestly believe injury he recovered from 5 MONTHS prior to his poor play down the stretch is even close to being a valid, logical excuse for him? If you do, I got a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn.

5. It's not about the points, you need guys that can hit because those guys win you playoff games. Nonsense. If all you wanted were guys that just hit and grind, draft them in the middle rounds or acquire them via free agency. Dorsett was acquired and was a former 7th round pick. Hansen was a 9th rounder and Prust was a 3rd rounder. That is where you should find guys like those. A player is drafted that high to score, not to be Dorsett 2.0 with a whopping 2 points in 43 playoff games. Jake to me isn't a failure if all he ends up being is a 20+ goal scorer and a consistent 40+ point player, but that would still disappoint others for a player drafted that high. As for playoffs and key games, he has never been anything more than a passenger in the playoffs (and even here in World Juniors, where he is a returning 19 year old playing in a 19 year old's tournament). Horvat was an established OHL playoff MVP, played in the memorial cup 3 times and even was a key player for us as a ROOKIE against Calgary. Jake has a paltry 23 points in 40 games in Juniors. If that's gonna be your playoff hero, you're not going anywhere. The Bruins and Kings didn't just win because they had a couple big guys, they had big guys who could score key goals.

6. Horvat came around, so will Jake. Horvat does all of the little things right, could play effectively away from the puck and filled a NEED. Over time the little things led to bigger things and his confidence also grew over the course of the season. Jake is extraneous and does not do the little things right at this level. Kenins could do the same without killing the play. Jake clearly needs development.

 

This may seem very harsh but I've seen this movie before. Keeping him here is the same mistake the Islanders made with Niederreiter (a player like Jake who was physically ready for the NHL but not ready in any other facet). The good thing is that Jake is young and with proper development he can live up to his potential and be a solid 30+ goal scorer consistently for us. However, if the Canucks just keep him here as some pathetic crass play to the fans to be like "Look here season ticket holders, you got a local boy 6th overall playing in the NHL at 19. Plz renew" then ultimately it could be a self-fulfilling prophesy for him to become a Raffi Torres type player, which would be a damn shame and a damning indictment roster-wise on what you don't have rather than what you do have. Send him home.

Edited January 1, 2016 by ghjffbali

[Conscience]

He doesn't even know how to screen a goalie. He always standing of to the side. That's low hockey iq. 

[stawns]

9 minutes ago, ghjffbali said:

Biggest lies/myths supporters use for Virtanen:

1. Forgive his piss poor play because he was 1 month away from being eligible for the 2015 draft. This means absolutely nothing. It would be as utterly stupid as suggesting it is more spectacular for a November born 4th grader to get a B+ than a March born 4th grader to get an A. They're still 4th graders. He is developmentally no different than his other 96 born peers like McCann. The only place this argument was relevant is in comparison to Nick Ritchie, who was ACTUALLY a year older than him and was being drafted in what was his 3rd CHL season. The reason people preferred Virtanen over Ritchie was that Jake scored more goals than him and had 2 more years to show growth, where Ritchie only had 1 more and pretty much you were gonna get what you were seeing from him then.

2. The Hitmen are a bad developmental organization. The Hitmen are a very good organization and had no problems developing Sanheim (a PPG defenseman), Chase, Tambellini, Fazleev and upcoming projected 1st rounder Jake Bean, but somehow because Virtanen was struggling the Hitmen must be very bad. Other notable alumini off the top of my head include Martin Jones, Ryan Getzlaf and Andrew Ladd. But yeah, he Hitmen just suck at developing players. Maybe it's just Jake, not the organization. While the coach did juggle his line (even in ways that puzzled me at times) look at the other side of the equation. Much like Baertschi with WD, Virtanen just doesn't do some of the things the coach wants him to do and thus would continue to lose his trust. Jake is a 1st overall pick. Do you not think it would reflect very poorly on the organization if they didn't use their OWN damn 1st overall crown jewel in as favorable of a position as they could have. The reason his line would get juggled and he would get bounced around because his game at certain times would be THAT poor and frustrating to watch.

3. He should stay up here because he already dominated the WHL. Being a measly PPG player when your own team has a PPG defenseman is laughable. He even had 1st unit PP duties in his draft+1 season that he didn't have before and only managed 21 goals, which leads to the next excuse...

4. He struggled because he was injured. Most people already expected him not to be some 100 point player or a 1.5 PPG player because of injury. I think Nino Niederreiter was the expected production for him (70 points in 55 games, 30ish goals) and even then he failed. But the reason he failed wasn't because his start was that poor. Here is is game log (http://whl.ca/roster/gamebygame/id/26161/ls_season/249). By the end of January he had 37 points in 29 games, which is what was expected from him and there was very little whining about his play at that point. He managed 15 points in the next 21 games to END the season. In February he went on a cold streak and managed only 1 point in 7 games to start the month before recovering with a serious of multi point games the rest of the month. Then in March his game fell off a cliff and he went cold again managing only 4 points in 9 games. Do you honestly believe injury he recovered from 5 MONTHS prior to his poor play down the stretch is even close to being a valid, logical excuse for him? If you do, I got a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn.

5. It's not about the points, you need guys that can hit because those guys win you playoff games. Nonsense. If all you wanted were guys that just hit and grind, draft them in the middle rounds or acquire them via free agency. Dorsett was acquired and was a former 7th round pick. Hansen was a 9th rounder and Prust was a 3rd rounder. That is where you should find guys like those. A player is drafted that high to score, not to be Dorsett 2.0 with a whopping 2 points in 43 playoff games. Jake to me isn't a failure if all he ends up being is a 20+ goal scorer and a consistent 40+ point player, but that would still disappoint others for a player drafted that high. As for playoffs and key games, he has never been anything more than a passenger in the playoffs (and even here in World Juniors, where he is a returning 19 year old playing in a 19 year old's tournament). Horvat was an established OHL playoff MVP, played in the memorial cup 3 times and even was a key player for us as a ROOKIE against Calgary. Jake has a paltry 23 points in 40 games in Juniors. If that's gonna be your playoff hero, you're not going anywhere. The Bruins and Kings didn't just win because they had a couple big guys, they had big guys who could score key goals.

6. Horvat came around, so will Jake. Horvat does all of the little things right, could play effectively away from the puck and filled a NEED. Over time the little things led to bigger things and his confidence also grew over the course of the season. Jake is extraneous and does not do the little things right at this level. Kenins could do the same without killing the play. Jake clearly needs development.

 

This may seem very harsh but I've seen this movie before. Keeping him here is the same mistake the Islanders made with Niederreiter (a player like Jake who was physically ready for the NHL but not ready in any other facet). The good thing is that Jake is young and with proper development he can live up to his potential and be a solid 30+ goal scorer consistently for us. However, if the Canucks just keep him here as some pathetic crass play to the fans to be like "Look here season ticket holders, you got a local boy 6th overall playing in the NHL at 19. Plz renew" then ultimately it could be a self-fulfilling prophesy for him to become a Raffi Torres type player, which would be a damn shame and a damning indictment roster-wise on what you don't have rather than what you do have. Send him home.

here's what I don't get........why do you losers actually look for ways to bash Canucks prospects?  I actually cheer for them and look for the good over the bad.  That's what development means......you look for the good elements and systematically eliminate the bad habits.  The pathetic nature of you and all the other obtuse mouth breathers taking over this board is sickening.

[Vancanwincup]

JV is forcing plays and not letting them develop, he needs to let the play come to him by playing his game. He is never going to be the key guy in making plays, but he sure the hell could be the guy that causes turn overs with his heavy board game, get garbage goal by heavy net presence and snipe of the rush with his speed and shot. He needs a good play making center and a winger who likes to go to the net, to fight for rebounds, as JV likes to put the puck on net off a rush a good percentage of the time.   

[JiffyPB]

6 minutes ago, stawns said:

here's what I don't get........why do you losers actually look for ways to bash Canucks prospects?  I actually cheer for them and look for the good over the bad.  That's what development means......you look for the good elements and systematically eliminate the bad habits.  The pathetic nature of you and all the other obtuse mouth breathers taking over this board is sickening.

Keep wearing the rose colored glasses and not even read the whole post. I never said he was a bust gone beyond the point of no return, I pointed out all of the excuses people are making for him and how they are false. It's better to acknowledge the problem so you can fix it rather than ignore it and pretend the bad things don't exist. He HASN'T developed much since being drafted. If you want to blindly support players, go ahead but this kid isn't gonna be the player you think he will be if he isn't developed correctly. Calling me a mouth breather when you couldn't even make 1 logical counterargument is laughable.

Edited January 1, 2016 by ghjffbali

[Darius]

I just had a look at all the number 6 picks since year 2000.  For all the forwards I did a quick calculation of their points per game in the NHL and then i looked up to see what their point total was in their last year of the World Junior championship.

                                                    pts/g      last year of wjc

2013    Sean Monahan        C     .61        
2012    Hampus Lindholm    D    
2011    Mika Zibanejad        C     .5           6gp 5pts
2010    Brett Connolly       RW    .244        6gp 6pts
2009    Oliver Ekman-Larsson  D 
2008    Nikita Filatov         LW     .266        6gp 6pts
2007    Sam Gagner         RW     .59          6gp 0pts
2006    Derick Brassard       C     .59          6gp 4pts
2005    Gilbert Brule             C    .31         
2004    Al Montoya               G    
2003    Milan Michalek      RW    .61
2002    Scott Upshall         RW    .42          6gp 5pts
2001    Mikko Koivu              C    .73          7gp 6pts
2000    Scott Hartnell            C    .58   
 

A few things to note:

1. Sean Monahan did not qualify for the Canadian National Junior team one year, the next year the Flames opted not to send him.  To me this indicates how hard it is to make the team.  The guys who make the roster beat out hundreds of their peers.

2. How many busts do you see in that list during the past 15 years?  Id count Connolly, Brule, Filatov, and perhaps Montoya. 

3. The bulk of the successful forwards are .6 pts per game players.  I think if Jake falls in line we should expect him to be around a 50 point player at best(does this lower your expectation?)

4.  For the players that I did find their WJC stats, most seem to hover around a point per game or less.  Sam Gagner was the exception with 0 points in 6 games.

Edited January 1, 2016 by Darius71

[CanucksFanTillDeath1995]

20 minutes ago, ghjffbali said:

Biggest lies/myths supporters use for Virtanen:

1. Forgive his piss poor play because he was 1 month away from being eligible for the 2015 draft. This means absolutely nothing. It would be as utterly stupid as suggesting it is more spectacular for a November born 4th grader to get a B+ than a March born 4th grader to get an A. They're still 4th graders. He is developmentally no different than his other 96 born peers like McCann. The only place this argument was relevant is in comparison to Nick Ritchie, who was ACTUALLY a year older than him and was being drafted in what was his 3rd CHL season. The reason people preferred Virtanen over Ritchie was that Jake scored more goals than him and had 2 more years to show growth, where Ritchie only had 1 more and pretty much you were gonna get what you were seeing from him then.

2. The Hitmen are a bad developmental organization. The Hitmen are a very good organization and had no problems developing Sanheim (a PPG defenseman), Chase, Tambellini, Fazleev and upcoming projected 1st rounder Jake Bean, but somehow because Virtanen was struggling the Hitmen must be very bad. Other notable alumini off the top of my head include Martin Jones, Ryan Getzlaf and Andrew Ladd. But yeah, he Hitmen just suck at developing players. Maybe it's just Jake, not the organization. While the coach did juggle his line (even in ways that puzzled me at times) look at the other side of the equation. Much like Baertschi with WD, Virtanen just doesn't do some of the things the coach wants him to do and thus would continue to lose his trust. Jake is a 1st overall pick. Do you not think it would reflect very poorly on the organization if they didn't use their OWN damn 1st overall crown jewel in as favorable of a position as they could have. The reason his line would get juggled and he would get bounced around because his game at certain times would be THAT poor and frustrating to watch.

3. He should stay up here because he already dominated the WHL. Being a measly PPG player when your own team has a PPG defenseman is laughable. He even had 1st unit PP duties in his draft+1 season that he didn't have before and only managed 21 goals, which leads to the next excuse...

4. He struggled because he was injured. Most people already expected him not to be some 100 point player or a 1.5 PPG player because of injury. I think Nino Niederreiter was the expected production for him (70 points in 55 games, 30ish goals) and even then he failed. But the reason he failed wasn't because his start was that poor. Here is is game log (http://whl.ca/roster/gamebygame/id/26161/ls_season/249). By the end of January he had 37 points in 29 games, which is what was expected from him and there was very little whining about his play at that point. He managed 15 points in the next 21 games to END the season. In February he went on a cold streak and managed only 1 point in 7 games to start the month before recovering with a serious of multi point games the rest of the month. Then in March his game fell off a cliff and he went cold again managing only 4 points in 9 games. Do you honestly believe injury he recovered from 5 MONTHS prior to his poor play down the stretch is even close to being a valid, logical excuse for him? If you do, I got a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn.

5. It's not about the points, you need guys that can hit because those guys win you playoff games. Nonsense. If all you wanted were guys that just hit and grind, draft them in the middle rounds or acquire them via free agency. Dorsett was acquired and was a former 7th round pick. Hansen was a 9th rounder and Prust was a 3rd rounder. That is where you should find guys like those. A player is drafted that high to score, not to be Dorsett 2.0 with a whopping 2 points in 43 playoff games. Jake to me isn't a failure if all he ends up being is a 20+ goal scorer and a consistent 40+ point player, but that would still disappoint others for a player drafted that high. As for playoffs and key games, he has never been anything more than a passenger in the playoffs (and even here in World Juniors, where he is a returning 19 year old playing in a 19 year old's tournament). Horvat was an established OHL playoff MVP, played in the memorial cup 3 times and even was a key player for us as a ROOKIE against Calgary. Jake has a paltry 23 points in 40 games in Juniors. If that's gonna be your playoff hero, you're not going anywhere. The Bruins and Kings didn't just win because they had a couple big guys, they had big guys who could score key goals.

6. Horvat came around, so will Jake. Horvat does all of the little things right, could play effectively away from the puck and filled a NEED. Over time the little things led to bigger things and his confidence also grew over the course of the season. Jake is extraneous and does not do the little things right at this level. Kenins could do the same without killing the play. Jake clearly needs development.

 

This may seem very harsh but I've seen this movie before. Keeping him here is the same mistake the Islanders made with Niederreiter (a player like Jake who was physically ready for the NHL but not ready in any other facet). The good thing is that Jake is young and with proper development he can live up to his potential and be a solid 30+ goal scorer consistently for us. However, if the Canucks just keep him here as some pathetic crass play to the fans to be like "Look here season ticket holders, you got a local boy 6th overall playing in the NHL at 19. Plz renew" then ultimately it could be a self-fulfilling prophesy for him to become a Raffi Torres type player, which would be a damn shame and a damning indictment roster-wise on what you don't have rather than what you do have. Send him home.

Terrific post. Tried to argue many of the same things with people here and they continue to bash. It is extremely clear that picking Virtanen at 6 was a marketing ploy and he was nowhere near the BPA at the time. The best thing we can hope for is Virtanen to start to turn things around and maybe become a 2nd line winger, but it doesn't look pretty at this point. 

[Warhippy]

22 hours ago, Cowardrobertford said:

As for sanhiem and Perlini they've contributed more to TC than Jake have 

Edited January 1, 2016 by Warhippy