Problem No. 4: Jake Virtanen
Problem No. 4: Jake Virtanen
Jake Virtanen is not really a big problem. He finds himself fourth on this list because he could step up and make a ton of difference on the Canucks’ roster.
Virtanen’s post-All Stars season started out rough. He was slotted to play to Sutter’s right until he was bumped last minute by fellow rookie Jared McCann. The speculation is that his conditioning went down the drain over the All-Star break. Okay. That is a problem. All athletes have to be in shape.
More from The Canuck Way
- Which team won the Bo Horvat trade?
- What to expect from newcomers Anthony Beauvillier, Aatu Räty
- Back to the future: How the skate uniforms became a regular Canucks’ feature night
- Canucks kick off 2023 with disappointing 6-2 loss to Islanders
- 2nd period penalty trouble sinks Canucks in 4-2 loss against Winnipeg
But what Virtanen now knows is that he will now play on a scoring line with Sutter as his centreman. After showing signs of a strong comeback from the disappointing World Juniors, this is his opportunity start scoring again. He has not scored a single point in the past four weeks after scoring a rare goal on January 11th against the Florida Panthers.
The second thing on Virtanen’s mind should be the hitting game. He knows that he can hit at the NHL level. With Brandon Prust gone and with no physical presence on the Canucks’ first two forward lines, Virtanen, like Burrows, has to play the sandpaper role.
If he starts scoring, that makes Jim Benning’s life that much easier.
Should the rookie right winger start scoring, there is nothing stopping him from being bumped to the second line with Bo Horvat and Sven Baertschi. Radim Vrbata becomes expendable and Trader Jim can flip the pending UFA for a second-round pick. Virtanen gets more minutes, a fourth-line wing slot becomes available for an AHL call-up like Alex Grenier or Ronalds Kenins.
That sounds too good to be true. But the key is this, that Virtanen starts scoring, and scoring soon. He has just 10 games to work with before the trade deadline.
Next: Problem No. 5: Alex Biega