Jake Virtanen has played against Nikolay Goldobin and knows all about Brock Boeser.
“I played against Goldobin in the Top Prospects Game (2014) and Boeser has incredible talent,” said the wayward Vancouver Canucks winger, who is finding his professional way with the AHL’s Utica Comets.
What the mercurial Virtanen also knows is despite the departures of Jannik Hansen and Alex Burrows, there’s considerable competition on the right side next fall.
Factor in Markus Granlund’s career season, Loui Eriksson’s need for a reset, Goldobin, Boeser, Derek Dorsett returning from neck surgery and a curiosity about Reid Boucher, and nothing is guaranteed for the Abbotsford native.
“You have to earn every opportunity — and I have to prove that I belong,” said Virtanen. “It’s how the game works.”
Well, yes and no.
Last season was about feel-good stories when a trio of wide-eyed rookies in Virtanen, Jared McCann and Ben Hutton cracked the roster. Virtanen and McCann were 19, played like it and sometimes acted like it.
The college-tested Hutton was 22 and looked like he had been in the National Hockey League for years.
Vancouver Canucks winger Jake Virtanen rocks Edmonton Oilers blueliner Darnell Nurse — who is an imposing speciman himself at 6-foot-4 and 213 pounds — during an NHL pre-season game last October in Edmonton.
Vancouver Canucks winger Jake Virtanen rocks Edmonton Oilers blueliner Darnell Nurse — who is an imposing specimen himself at 6-foot-4 and 213 pounds — during an NHL pre-season game last October in Edmonton.
With everything Virtanen has been through in a fishbowl existence of being the sixth overall selection in the 2014 entry draft — struggling with the mental and physical transition to the pro game — he may be turning both a competitive and character corner, because NHL roster reality can do that.
It’s why Fun Jake is trying to become Serious Jake.
“I want to go into camp and be in phenomenal shape, and I’m already pretty prepared for that and I’m completely dedicated to that,” stressed Virtanen, who is down to 213 pounds after reporting to camp at 231 pounds in September. “I’m going to be really excited and I have to be an everyday guy.”
Virtanen lasted just 10 games and had one assist when he was dispatched to the farm team for the season. Even with a rash of recalled wingers, he has purposely stayed with the Comets, and his progression isn’t something that can be measured in point totals.
“In the last month, I’ve taken another step in my game and they’ve been pushing me in the right direction,” added Virtanen.“I’m trying to be a difference-maker every night, and this (AHL) is a tougher league than guys think.
“Whether it’s scoring goals or making plays, being that physical presence and using the jump that I have, I’ve got to find a way to help the team win.”
Demanding Utica Comets head coach Travis Green (above) has put the onus on Jake Virtanen to be a more fit, complete, two-way player. ‘It hasn’t been all roses for Jake down in the AHL. We’ve been very honest with him,’ says Green. ‘Are we hard on him? Sometimes. But with that, there’s good dialogue.’
Utica Comets head coach Travis Green (above) has put the onus on Jake Virtanen to be a more fit, complete, two-way player. ‘It hasn’t been all roses for Jake down in the AHL. We’ve been very honest with him,’ says Green. ‘Are we hard on him? Sometimes. But with that, there’s good dialogue.’ VANCOUVER SUN
Details in Virtanen’s game — reading plays, moving his feet, using his size and and not being a defensive liability — have improved under demanding Comets coach Travis Green.
It hasn’t been easy. Telling an impatient first-rounder that it’s about the process and not points — Virtanen had just seven goals in his first 57 Comet games — is a tough sell. But it’s working slowly, steadily.
“Jake is still a young guy (20) and people forget that,” said Green. “He went through a stretch where I know he was getting frustrated because he wasn’t getting the points. And that was a good time to break it down to him that the goals and assists will be a by-product of doing things to be a difference in a game.
“When young players don’t have success it can sometimes look like they really don’t want it. And for some, it’s hard. They’re in and out and their compete levels go up and down. And they tend to take their foot off the gas and you have to make them accountable.
“It hasn’t been all roses for Jake down in the AHL. We’ve been very honest with him. Are we hard on him? Sometimes. But with that, there’s good dialogue. He understands that and is confident his game is going in the right direction, even though it’s hard sometimes.
“It can help a player to play outside his comfort zone.”
Virtanen isn’t the first big junior who could skate and score to struggle at the next level. In the game’s ongoing transition to speed, the fact he can move well and hit hard convinced the Canucks he could become that power forward who could wreak havoc in so many ways.
Jake Virtanen in a game with the Utica Comets during the 2016-17 season. PNG
In his prime, Todd Bertuzzi did that. And did that with size, talent and a mean streak.
The polarizing Virtanen earned a Canucks roster spot last season because of that big-body presence, bravado, surprising speed and a nose for the net that showed in four pre-season points (2-2) in six games.
His bowling-ball approach was perceived to be a boon, but there were gutter balls along the way. There were seven goals in 57 games, but he was also on a tight leash from coach Willie Desjardins because the only option was to send Virtanen back to junior. And the only way to get through to him was to cut his minutes back.
It’s never been just one thing with Virtanen. Fitness and focus have been the biggest hurdles for him to clear. And in that respect, there’s no better environment. Utica is not Vancouver, and the AHL is not the NHL.
In the minors, it’s more about practice, training and games than rest and recovery. Last September, Virtanen saw how seriously Nikita Tryamkin took his level of fitness concern by dropping four-and-a-half per cent body fat in one month.
Abbotsford's Jake Virtanen was picked sixth overall in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft by the Canucks.
Abbotsford’s Jake Virtanen was picked sixth overall in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft by the Canucks. SEAN KILPATRICK / THE CANADIAN PRESS
The plan for Virtanen was never that complex: Train hard, play harder, keep your eyes open and your mouth shut.
“We have the luxury of getting a guy to ride the bike for 30 minutes after a game — even though we play the next night — because we think he needs it,” said Green. “We’ve pushed Jake in that direction knowing that it (fitness) might not be the best in his game, but that in two or three months down the road it would pay off.
“I give him credit. There have been some tough times for him and they’re still tough. But he has a better understanding of how much he can work off the ice and still play well. He’s a horse. He can put a lot of work in that he doesn’t even know that he can.”
Virtanen knows this much.
Drawing the admiration, rather than the ire, of Henrik and Daniel Sedin next fall will be of paramount importance. The twins didn’t name names last March, but cited a lack of daily commitment among young players to get better every day, even with missing the playoffs.
“They (Sedins) are such great mentors for guys coming in and even guys on the team,” said Virtanen. “They go to the rink every day and are eager to get better.”
If the Sedins can say the same about Virtanen next fall, then he really will have turned a critical corner.
|
