Vancouver Canucks: It’s time to give Jake Virtanen a break

Travis Green is trying to teach some tough love to Jake Virtanen, but some young players with upside should be given some opportunity to achieve that upside.Here’s why Virtanen should be given some more offensive opportunities.

The former sixth overall pick of the Vancouver Canucks in 2014 has not lived up to expectations again this season. but we need to remember that Jake Virtanen is a developing player.

Canucks fans have to be patient — Virtanen has such flashes of brilliance. We should be excited for what Virtanen can bring to this Canucks team in the future.

Head coach Travis Green was a great influence on Virtanen last season in Utica. Green was said to have been in the video room with Jake often and had him working on his stamina to be ready to make the jump to becoming an everyday National Hockey League (NHL) player.

Consistency

Travis Green is now coaching Jake Virtanen as an every day NHL player and Virtanen has had times where he plays some amazing hockey. The problem is that he is not consistent with his elevated play.

You can go to the game in Detroit back in October where Virtanen had a goal in the 4-1 win with eight shots on net. He also laid the body on Niklas Kronwall as many Vancouver Canucks fans remember.

On the contrary, you can go back to Dec. 17, 2017, when the Canucks lost to the Calgary Flames 6-1. Virtanen was a minus-three, took three minor penalties and had zero shots on net.

The key to take from this is that when Virtanen plays a good game, he has a great game.

Unfortunately, the opposite to this statement applies.

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Creating Chances

Virtanen brings skills to the  Canucks that no other player on the roster possesses. Virtanen may be the fastest skater on this Canucks team and has an NHL caliber wrist shot when he hits the net

. He also is very strong on the ice and with his six-foot-one, 205-pound frame, he is hard to knock off his skates.

Virtanen currently has the lowest average shift length with the Canucks at only 34 seconds a shift. He also has a 2.0 goals against per 60 minutes which is good enough for third on the Vancouver Canucks and only trails Brendan Gaunce for forwards.

One of the things that could help Virtanen get more chances would be some powerplay time. When Bo Horvat was out to injury Virtanen should have been an option in front of the net for the first powerplay unit. Instead, Green elected to use a player like Marcus Granlund.

Stepping Up

There have only been six games this season where Jake Virtanen has played more than 14 minutes. He has three goals and one assist while notching 24 shots on net in those six games. He has never been given an opportunity on the powerplay, where someone his offensive skills would shine.

It has to be hard for the offensively skilled Virtanen who is regularly buried on a fourth line playing with guys like Nic Dowd and Brendan Gaunce.

Virtanen does get time with the Sedins but in my opinion, he needs to play with players who can try and match his speed. Virtanen shows a ton of skill when he flies through the neutral zone and gets an odd-man rush.

Build-a-beast

In the end, Virtanen is only 21-years-old and is trying to hone his skills that were developed in junior and has had flashed in the NHL. With the way the season is going, the Canucks are not going to the playoffs and management is always stressing that they want to play important games in March.

Why not force those games to be important?

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Play Jake Virtanen in power play situations, four on four and in three on three overtime. Tough love can only get you so far, there’s a point where a young player should be given an opportunity to succeed. Some confidence would be a great boost for Virtanen, who has been told a lot of different advice from coaches. Everyone wants to be a power forward in the NHL but let’s let Jake be Jake. It’s not about how many hits he gets in a game, it’s about getting Jake to rise to his full potential.