Jake Virtanen | #18 | RW

[SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME]

32 minutes ago, ForsbergTheGreat said:

It was a pretty impressive play.  He dangled a guy along his own blueline (which is a high risk play) that takes a lot of confidence to know you are going to, drew in 3 defenders to him and in a split second he got the puck back onto his stick and found the wide out Matthews. 

 

That's a skill set we haven't developed on this team,  it's a skill set that we are hoping to find in this years draft (that's why JB want's a playmaking center).  Nylander today is clearly the better and more impact player.  There is zero chance TO would make a trade straight up for each player.....But Jake has the abilities and skillset to turn that around, into another player that this team needs.  Will he ever get there? for canucks sake, we all hope so, a big goal scoring Power forward would be huge for this team. 

 

It shouldn't be Jake vs Will.  Two different players.  Something Nylander does shouldn't be taken as a negative towards Jake, and same goes the other way. With that said, things Nylander does shouldn't be posted in a Virtanen thread without some intention of trolling. 

I think the current Canuck player with the best chance of becoming a guy who can replicate that Nylander play is the same kid who did this last game:

 

(Hopefully this GIF works)

 

However, between "earning it," finding his "balls," and learning to play "the right way," one has to hope that Goldy doesn't lose the creativity and natural offensive instincts that allow him to attempt high risk/reward skill plays. 

 

Obviously, the Goldobin play is taking place in the opposite half of the offensive zone to Nylander's, but the results are similar. Goldy draws three players and creates an open look for a teammate with time and space.

 

Of course, Nylander is helped out by having Matthews on the end of the chance he creates. No offense to Hutton (or the twins for that matter), but maybe Goldy gets more highlight reel nods if he also has a clinical finisher riding shotgun with him and who's available to feast on the chances his creates.

Edited April 5, 2017 by SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME

[Nave]

I'd understand comparing Virtanen to Nylander if they were remotely the same player. Virtanen cannot pass or deke like Nylander and Nylander cannot hit like Virtanen. They are two completely different players. 

 

As a North-South player, Virtanen has a lot of potential, and those are the kind of players Benning is compiling. His ability to score on the rush is there - he just has to do it more consistently - and it seems he does it more on the left side. 

 

People say he's "lost a year of development" being rushed to the NHL, but he probably learned more on the Canucks than he would have in Junior. 

[Canuck Surfer]

On 4/5/2017 at 3:04 AM, Art Vandelay said:

 

I saw this picture on Twitter. I knew he lost weight but holy smokes. I thought this might have been him when he played for utica during the playoffs in 2015, but I don't think he had the arm tattoo then. 

 

Great to see him get into shape. 

 

 

 

And that boy on the right is still 213 lbs.

 

He will be more than a beast when he learns to also, stay lean but, put muscle on top of his natural frame!

[SamJamIam]

7 hours ago, c00kies said:

Some of his weight loss is countered by muscle gain though, so losing 20 pounds could= losing 40 pounds of fat and gaining 20 pounds of muscle (as just an example).

Doubtful in Jake's case.  He's just dropped a ton of body fat.  He wasn't without muscle before.

 

8 hours ago, nzan said:

I've gone from 215 to 190 since Christmas and I hardly notice it visually.

I'd also say this looks like more like 35-40.

Also though, that first pick looks like it could be more than 230...

Agreed.

[ForsbergTheGreat]

3 hours ago, SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME said:

I think the current Canuck player with the best chance of becoming a guy who can replicate that Nylander play is the same kid who did this last game:

 

 

(Hopefully this GIF works)

 

However, between "earning it," finding his "balls," and learning to play "the right way," one has to hope that Goldy doesn't lose the creativity and natural offensive instincts that allow him to attempt high risk/reward skill plays. 

 

Obviously, the Goldobin play is taking place in the opposite half of the offensive zone to Nylander's, but the results are similar. Goldy draws three players and creates an open look for a teammate with time and space.

 

Of course, Nylander is helped out by having Matthews on the end of the chance he creates. No offense to Hutton (or the twins for that matter), but maybe Goldy gets more highlight reel nods if he also has a clinical finisher riding shotgun with him and who's available to feast on the chances his creates.

i think goldy has the skillset, but i'm more impressed with the confidence to dangle around a player while being the last man back by Nylander.  Very risky and if it goes wrong he's causing a break way the other way, but the fact that he tried it just shows how confident he is about his game right now.

 

It's been far too often for us to see a player on our team attempt to beat a player one on one.  Very little creativity within the game.  Although danny had a nice move two games ago with the back hand drag between the hash marks.  I want to see more of that.  Watchh Kuznetsov with the puck the guy is so confident when he has the puck, he can slow the game down, Nylander has that too.  I think Goldy can get there but were going to have to let him make a few mistakes in the process.  Let him have fun with the game and get creative.

[High and Inside]

I'm not ready to write off Jake yet. He has a really good skill set and power forwards take longer to develop. Bertuzzi  took like 6-7 years after he was drafted to score more then 10 goals in the NHL. Just because a kid isn't ready at 18 19 20 doesn't mean he is a bust. 

Edited April 6, 2017 by High and Inside

[Scruffy05]

1 minute ago, High and Inside said:

I'm not ready to write off Jake yet. He has a really good skill set and power forwards take longer to develop. Bertulli took like 6-7 years after he was drafted to score more then 10 goals in the NHL. Just because a kid isn't ready at 18 19 20 doesn't mean he is a bust. 

As much as I would like Virtanen to become a top flight scorer, if he becomes a middle 6 scorer and destroyer of men I am more than OK with that as well.

[High and Inside]

1 minute ago, Scruffy05 said:

As much as I would like Virtanen to become a top flight scorer, if he becomes a middle 6 scorer and destroyer of men I am more than OK with that as well.

Exactly. He'll still have a place and a role in our lineup it might not be a first line player in the end but it's good to have different types of players and maybe even we draft someone who complements Jake's skillset. I still want time to play itself out. 

[J-23]

I can see a Jake vs Tkachuk rivarly in the future. Imagine how fun it would be to watch that!

Edited April 6, 2017 by J-23

[guntrix]

1 hour ago, High and Inside said:

I'm not ready to write off Jake yet. He has a really good skill set and power forwards take longer to develop. Bertuzzi  took like 6-7 years after he was drafted to score more then 10 goals in the NHL. Just because a kid isn't ready at 18 19 20 doesn't mean he is a bust. 

Where did you get this from???

 

Bertuzzi was drafted in 1993 and scored 18 goals, 21 assists with the Islanders in 95-96... 

[N4ZZY]

14 minutes ago, guntrix said:

Where did you get this from???

 

Bertuzzi was drafted in 1993 and scored 18 goals, 21 assists with the Islanders in 95-96... 

Bertuzzi was a beast even in his rookie year. 

But I also think that Jake and Bert were different players, and play different games. Bertuzzi I think had softer hands for sure, but didn't really play very good defensively, which is why Mo on their line was kind of the defensive anchor. 

Jake, I think will be a better defensive forward, but may not have the soft hands Bert had. I think Jake can score 20 goals still in the NHL. And I think he can do it consistently as well. 

 

[GoBoGo53]

18 hours ago, Bandwagon38 said:

And against Buffalo none the less! Unfortunately he won't be facing Buffalo in the playoffs...and the last Nucks game I saw Boeser and Goldy make a cross ice pinpoint passes.  One for a Goal and one for a great save.  Just saying that your attempt at knocking off the Canucks rose colour glasses is thwarted by not being able to see past you own.

Maybe try a Toronto discussion board.  Funny how in you first year of relevance TO fans become so emboldened.  Don't care about TO players and never will.

1. I'm not a Toronto fan. Get that straight. 
2. Boeser and Goldobin don't have the skill to nutmeg NHL players at their own offensive blue line. 

[GoBoGo53]

19 hours ago, Squamfan said:

 

 

 

 

nobody on the canucks can do this to, so were eqauly

 

 

 

 

Any 4th line plug can hit. Matt Martin routinely is a top hits leader and it doesn't really matter much on the scoreboard. Assists like Nylander's as shown as gamebreaking plays because goals win games, hits don't. There are maybe 4-5 players that can make the play Nylander made. There are hundreds that can hit like that. It's not really a big deal. And by the way, when Virtanen was up here, he wasn't hitting much, and he wasn't scoring. He isn't doing it in the AHL either.

Edited April 6, 2017 by GoBoGo53

[GoBoGo53]

17 hours ago, ForsbergTheGreat said:

It was a pretty impressive play.  He dangled a guy along his own blueline (which is a high risk play) that takes a lot of confidence to know you are going to, drew in 3 defenders to him and in a split second he got the puck back onto his stick and found the wide out Matthews. 

 

That's a skill set we haven't developed on this team,  it's a skill set that we are hoping to find in this years draft (that's why JB want's a playmaking center).  Nylander today is clearly the better and more impact player.  There is zero chance TO would make a trade straight up for each player.....But Jake has the abilities and skillset to turn that around, into another player that this team needs.  Will he ever get there? for canucks sake, we all hope so, a big goal scoring Power forward would be huge for this team. 

 

It shouldn't be Jake vs Will.  Two different players.  Something Nylander does shouldn't be taken as a negative towards Jake, and same goes the other way. With that said, things Nylander does shouldn't be posted in a Virtanen thread without some intention of trolling. 

This is a good post. Dangling someone at your own blue line is the most risky play in hockey. It's a breakaway if it doesn't work out. That's why Nylander is so special, he has the confidence and skill to make the play. 

 

And I completely agree with the bolded. My video post wasn't intended to troll. It was just to counter the point that you can find players like Nylander in every draft. It's not possible

[WeneedLumme]

7 minutes ago, GoBoGo53 said:

1. I'm not a Toronto fan. Get that straight. 
2. Boeser and Goldobin don't have the skill to nutmeg NHL players at their own offensive blue line. 

Well, you are certainly not a Canucks fan. You are apparently here for the sole purpose of trolling Canucks fans. Have you ever said anything positive about ANY member of the Canucks organization? You drool so much over Nylander that you seem to be sitting in a puddle of Maple Leaf flavoured slime.

[R3aL]

23 hours ago, Squamfan said:

 

 

 

 

nobody on the canucks can do this to, so were eqauly

 

 

 

 

No forward***

 

88 can 

[stawns]

15 hours ago, High and Inside said:

I'm not ready to write off Jake yet. He has a really good skill set and power forwards take longer to develop. Bertuzzi  took like 6-7 years after he was drafted to score more then 10 goals in the NHL. Just because a kid isn't ready at 18 19 20 doesn't mean he is a bust. 

it's good you're not writing off a 20 year old

[Phat Fingers]

4 hours ago, GoBoGo53 said:

This is a good post. Dangling someone at your own blue line is the most risky play in hockey. It's a breakaway if it doesn't work out. That's why Nylander is so special, he has the confidence and skill to make the play. 

 

And I completely agree with the bolded. My video post wasn't intended to troll. It was just to counter the point that you can find players like Nylander in every draft. It's not possible

Quality of competition does diminish Nylanders walking the line, somewhat.  although it is impressive, could he do it against a team not named Buffalo, or even Buffalo again. 

 

If he can do that again when teams are expecting it, that will be truely impressive. That is what separates the good from great. Good is making moves that work when no one expects it, great is when everyone knows what you are going to do, but can't stop you. 

 

A lot of rookie players pull off some impressive shows of skill and puck handling, it takes a few years to prove that they can do it when they choose. 

 

EW

Edited April 6, 2017 by Eastcoast meets Westcoast

[GoBoGo53]

27 minutes ago, Eastcoast meets Westcoast said:

Quality of competition does diminish Nylanders walking the line, somewhat.  although it is impressive, could he do it against a team not named Buffalo, or even Buffalo again. 

 

If he can do that again when teams are expecting it, that will be truely impressive. That is what separates the good from great. Good is making moves that work when no one expects it, great is when everyone knows what you are going to do, but can't stop you. 

 

A lot of rookie players pull off some impressive shows of skill and puck handling, it takes a few years to prove that they can do it when they choose. 

 

EW

Fair enough. Nice having a reasonable discussion without getting flamed.
 

5 hours ago, WeneedLumme said:

Well, you are certainly not a Canucks fan. You are apparently here for the sole purpose of trolling Canucks fans. Have you ever said anything positive about ANY member of the Canucks organization? You drool so much over Nylander that you seem to be sitting in a puddle of Maple Leaf flavoured slime.

Look through my post history. I've said plenty positive about the Canucks. I'm as big a fan as you are. I like the future of this team. I just think Virtanen wasn't a good pick, and saying stuff like "Nylanders and Ehlers come around every draft" is the dumbest thing I've read on these forums.

[PuckYa]

15 hours ago, guntrix said:

Where did you get this from???

 

Bertuzzi was drafted in 1993 and scored 18 goals, 21 assists with the Islanders in 95-96... 

He was drafted in 1993 & true but he did have a decent rookie season (1996/96 season). But he did regress after the rookie season before he actually did break out in 1999-2000 season (6-7 years after his draft) & finally again in the 2001-2002 season (9 years after draft) where he became one of the best power forwards in the NHL.

 

 

 

                                                        GP      G     A      Pts

1995-96	New York Islanders	NHL	76	18	21	39	83	-14
1996-97	Utah Grizzlies	IHL	13	5	5	10	16	-3
1996-97	New York Islanders	NHL	64	10	13	23	68	-3
1997-98	New York Islanders	NHL	52	7	11	18	58	-19
1997-98	Vancouver Canucks	NHL	22	6	9	15	63	2
1998-99	Vancouver Canucks	NHL	32	8	8	16	44	-6
1999-00	Vancouver Canucks	NHL	80	25	25	50	126	-2
2000-01	Vancouver Canucks	NHL	79	25	30	55	93	-18
2001-02	Vancouver Canucks	NHL	72	36	49	85	110	21
2002-03	Vancouver Canucks	NHL	82	46	51	97	144	2