Jake Virtanen | #18 | RW

[coastal.view]

2 hours ago, Alflives said:

How long does the team wait for Jake to figure it out?

2 more years minimum

he costs the team next to nothing to keep him in the minors

 

[Me_]

13 hours ago, N4ZZY said:

leave jake alone. 

 

he becomes whatever ever he becomes as a player. no harm to you or anyone else on these boards. lmao. leave the kid alone and give him time to prove what he can or cannot do. 

However, one must indeed question Virtanen's present motivation to make it back to the NHL. 

 

From a 45 point NHL rookie season to a AHL 9 point half mark; that is a serious decline in one year regardless of who it is.

 

Perhaps the kid needs someone to talk to in order to get back to basics.

Edited January 24, 2017 by Me_

[Dekey Pete]

43 minutes ago, PhillipBlunt said:

There is a very vocal portion of the fanbase that is ultra-demanding without any concept of time and development. They are the whiners that see Ehlers and Nylander playing now and use that as ammunition against the Canucks and Jake. They apply the same principles and development trajectories to players with wildly different skillsets, body types, and backgrounds.

 

Same goes for Olli Juolevi and how clearly Benning failed by not picking up Matthew Tkachuck instead. Everyone can blog without merit and spew nonsense without fact, and there is always an audience.

Those same posters also have the benefit of HINDSIGHT when they are doing their whining.  Successful NHL players are judged on their performance over their entire CAREERS, not just their draft +1, +2, +3 seasons.  Just because player A makes it to the NHL before player B does not guarantee player A will go on to have the better career.  It's not rocket surgery to most people, but there are many posters on here that are just way too short sighted to see it.

[Me_]

13 hours ago, N4ZZY said:

leave jake alone. 

 

he becomes whatever ever he becomes as a player. no harm to you or anyone else on these boards. lmao. leave the kid alone and give him time to prove what he can or cannot do. 

However, one must indeed question Virtanen's present motivation to make it back to the NHL.

 

Perhaps the kid needs someone to talk to in order to get back to basics.

Edited January 24, 2017 by Me_

[gobi]

There was a similar argument about Horvat vs Nichushkin.  I remember there was a particular member who was very vocal about Nichushkin being the better pick since he was scoring at a higher pace than Horvat at the time.

[lethal_spaghetti]

I would be over the moon if virt can turn into a kreider comparable. 

[Drakrami]

5 hours ago, bohoforpresident said:

First NHL seasons

 

Tyler Seguin -  74 games, 22 points

Owen Nolan - 59 games , 13 points

Joe Thornton - 55 games,  7 points

Jake Virtanen - 55 games, 13 points

Milan Lucic - 77 games, 27 points

 

 

Looks like Virtanen is in some very great company. 

 

Im guessing you wouldnt you call all of those players busts?...

 

I want to clarify that I'm not saying he will be a top 6 forward OR a bust... I'll reserve that judgement until after (hopefully) another year in the AHL for Virtanen.

 

Except, Virtanen is already in his 2nd year and you pull up his 1st year numbers... In his 2nd year, he is deemed un-NHL worthy by his coach/GM, demoted to the AHL and underproducing there. Ring a bell? 

[Alflives]

1 minute ago, Drakrami said:

Except, Virtanen is already in his 2nd year and you pull up his 1st year numbers... In his 2nd year, he is deemed un-NHL worthy by his coach/GM, demoted to the AHL and underproducing there. Ring a bell? 

Maybe Jake would have been better off starting in the ECHL, like Burrows?  Then he would lose this "Prime Donna" perception he has of himself, and learn to work hard like Burr.

[Dekey Pete]

55 minutes ago, Alflives said:

Maybe Jake would have been better off starting in the ECHL, like Burrows?  Then he would lose this "Prime Donna" perception he has of himself, and learn to work hard like Burr.

He went from having a roster spot on an NHL team to playing the 3rd/4th line on an AHL team.  If that's not a wake up call then I don't know what is.  I think whatever perception he had of himself coming into the NHL is gone, and he's going to realize that he needs to work at his game and start acting like a pro in order to make it back up.  

[Dekey Pete]

6 minutes ago, The 5th Line said:

People can talk about him however they want, this is a public forum and people are here to leave their own opinions.  If you don't like it, stop coming in to this thread, maybe delete your account and stop logging on all together.  The same goes for all of you who can't handle a little bit of criticism or difference of opinion.  It's getting so tiresome listening to the same old garbage  "let the kid play"  "leave him alone"  "Todd Bertuzzi"  blah blah blah.  

 

You think I don't watch Comets games?  You are actually going to sit there and tell me his game is improving?  He still floats, he makes his linemates do the dirty work, he still can't cycle, the puck still dies on his stick in the offensive zone unless he is on a rush down the wing and has no other option then to shoot, his physicality has actually dropped off SIGNIFICANTLY, he still takes dumb penalties, he still doesn't have the coaches trust, he is still a pylon on the powerplay(when given an opportunity).  He is floating less now then he was in the NHL I will admit that, but I damn well hope he would work harder knowing that his next demotion would have him smack down in Kalamazoo or Alaska or wherever it is they send our garbage players.  Might as well be Madagascar.  Canuckledraggin the genius letting everybody know that a 20 year old player is "improving".  Duuhhh, usually kids improve at things if they keep working at.  He hasn't show enough skills to make anyone think he will be an impact player, I don't care how much he keeps improving.  This is a 6th overall pick and he's improving his game?  He's at .30 PPG right now.. as opposed to what?  .20 PPG?  

 

I remember during his NHL season people were actually trying to tell me that it just looks like he's floating but in reality he is just in really good position at all times so it just looks like he isn't trying hard...good god, people will say literally anything to try and defend a Canuck player.  

 

Nobody is saying he won't make the NHL, they are simply explaining how and why it is highly unlikely at this point that he will become anything more than a 4th liner.  when are you guys going to get this through your head?  Guntrix owned like 5 of you in a matter of a couple hours, using more than fair analysis, statistics and insight but yet you guys keep coming back with the same old garbage  "Todd Bertuzzi this, Todd Bertuzzi that".  Come up with some new material already.  \

 

Jake will score two goals tomorrow.  Book it

You are relentless!  C'mon, "highly unlikely he's going to become anything more than a 4th liner"?  This isn't Tom Sestito we're talking about here... Jake has all of the tools to be a great player (foot speed, shot, hitting) all he needs to do is put in some damn effort.  That can be coached.  

Edited January 25, 2017 by The Sedge

[stawns]

1 hour ago, Me_ said:

However, one must indeed question Virtanen's present motivation to make it back to the NHL.

 

Perhaps the kid needs someone to talk to in order to get back to basics.

I'll go by Green's assessment......that he's working hard, playing well at both ends of the rink

[Dekey Pete]

2 minutes ago, The 5th Line said:

Wanna hear something funny?  Sestito outscored Virtanen in his draft +1 year.  Since you guys love comparisons so much, there's one for ya

And how did the rest of Tom's NHL career go?  How about Dane Fox?  

 

Both those examples are guys who dominated juniors because of their size, but when it came time for the pros they couldn't keep up because they were both HORRIBLE skaters.  

 

Jake may have had an easier time in the WHL being a big kid, but that's not to take away from his other skills (speed, shot, hitting).  Again, he just needs to get there mentally, and decide if he has what it takes to commit to being a professional day in and day out.  Sometimes 19-20 year old kids don't make great decisions, but he's got time to mature.

[bohoforpresident]

1 hour ago, Drakrami said:

Except, Virtanen is already in his 2nd year and you pull up his 1st year numbers... In his 2nd year, he is deemed un-NHL worthy by his coach/GM, demoted to the AHL and underproducing there. Ring a bell? 

You sound like you have club seats.

 

The point I was trying to make is that even some GREAT players struggle coming into the show. Virtanen is struggling but IMO I believe the issue is his maturity, not a lack of skill.

 

Snooty. Condescending. Ring a bell?

 

That's because those words describe you. 

 

 

[guntrix]

9 hours ago, Warhippy said:

No no.  My argument holds water because it's true

 

Kreider was treated like a show pony.  Lots of minutes, 1st and 2nd line development, power play time.  In College, in the AHL and is now working his way up with AV as well

 

Virtanen has never been given any of those perks.  Not under willy not under Green

 

So....it's a pretty fair question

Say what you want about Kreider but he justified his perks by producing. That's all that really matters. Not only has Jake proven that he doesn't deserve the PP time he's been gifted by Green but he also hasn't been able to take advantage of it. 

[SilentSam]

2 hours ago, stawns said:

I'll go by Green's assessment......that he's working hard, playing well at both ends of the rink

Thought Jake was firing on both cylinders for a while when he first went to Utica,. I too remember Green's assessment being above average.

This has me wondering if TG is playing Jake to his weaknesses now to strengthen him.

perhaps @UticaComets has an honest opinion?

[SamJamIam]

19 hours ago, DeNiro said:

Matthew Tkachuk had almost identical point per game totals in his draft year that Bertuzzi had in his draft +2 year.

 

The era had nothing to do with it. There's players still putting up well over a hundred points in junior. Bertuzzi had a player on his team put up 124 points in his best year, Tkachuk had a player (Dvorak) put up 121 points in his draft year.

 

I'll never understand why we passed on him. There's some very basic rules about drafting that any average hockey fan knows. If there's a London Knight forward in the top 10 you take them. Similarly if there's a Halifax Moosehead forward or a Kelowna Rockets D-man you take them. These are powerhouse programs. Benning overthought these picks plain and simple.

Yeah dude, that's the point.  Tkachuk played on an amazing team, Virtanen did not.

[canuckledraggin]

3 hours ago, The 5th Line said:

People can talk about him however they want, this is a public forum and people are here to leave their own opinions.  If you don't like it, stop coming in to this thread, maybe delete your account and stop logging on all together.  The same goes for all of you who can't handle a little bit of criticism or difference of opinion.  It's getting so tiresome listening to the same old garbage  "let the kid play"  "leave him alone"  "Todd Bertuzzi"  blah blah blah.  

 

You think I don't watch Comets games?  You are actually going to sit there and tell me his game is improving?  He still floats, he makes his linemates do the dirty work, he still can't cycle, the puck still dies on his stick in the offensive zone unless he is on a rush down the wing and has no other option then to shoot, his physicality has actually dropped off SIGNIFICANTLY, he still takes dumb penalties, he still doesn't have the coaches trust, he is still a pylon on the powerplay(when given an opportunity).  He is floating less now then he was in the NHL I will admit that, but I damn well hope he would work harder knowing that his next demotion would have him smack down in Kalamazoo or Alaska or wherever it is they send our garbage players.  Might as well be Madagascar.  Canuckledraggin the genius letting everybody know that a 20 year old player is "improving".  Duuhhh, usually kids improve at things if they keep working at.  He hasn't show enough skills to make anyone think he will be an impact player, I don't care how much he keeps improving.  This is a 6th overall pick and he's improving his game?  He's at .30 PPG right now.. as opposed to what?  .20 PPG?  

 

I remember during his NHL season people were actually trying to tell me that it just looks like he's floating but in reality he is just in really good position at all times so it just looks like he isn't trying hard...good god, people will say literally anything to try and defend a Canuck player.  

 

Nobody is saying he won't make the NHL other than "Horvats Big Head (this guy needs to be banned) they are simply explaining how and why it is highly unlikely at this point that he will become anything more than a 4th liner.  when are you guys going to get this through your head?  Guntrix owned like 5 of you in a matter of a couple hours, using more than fair analysis, statistics and insight but yet you guys keep coming back with the same old garbage  "Todd Bertuzzi this, Todd Bertuzzi that".  Come up with some new material already.  \

 

Jake will score two goals tomorrow.  Book it

Somebody hit a nerve. Go ahead and keep riding his ass. Who cares what you or anyone else thinks as long as he keeps progressing. It's just crazy that there has to be so many comments from yourself and Guntrix that say the same thing over and over. He only plays a total of 3 games per week. How do you find something to say about him every day?

[Odd.]

6 hours ago, Derp... said:

If CDC posters were draft picks what round would they go in and would they make it to the NHL of the Forum?

One of our greatest picks of all time would be @Alflives. It's not often you become an all-star in less than 2 years 

[Vinny in Vancouver]

All of the posts here will make it all the sweeter once Virtanen is averaging 30 goals a season in the NHL. 

Edited January 25, 2017 by vinny_in_vancouver

[DeNiro]

10 minutes ago, vinny_in_vancouver said:

All of the posts here will make it all the sweeter once Virtanen is averaging 30 goals a season in the NHL. 

Ain't gonna happen.

 

These are the types of unrealistic expectations that put too much pressure on these young guys. At this stage if Virtanen becomes a physical 3rd liner who can score 15-20 that will be considered a success to me.