Canucks News and Notes

[Chef Boi RD]

Well if Horvat is not considered a prospect curious who the 5th untouchable is cause I agree with the other 4 - Virtanen, McCann, Cassels and Demko

Shinkaruk and Jensen are definitely touchable. I have a hard time seeing any of those two making it to the NHL. Shink has been getting batted around like a pinball in the playoffs. Not strong enough, skilled enough, fast enough.

With the way how everyone is raving about Gaunces play in the playoffs may be he is on the untouchable list

Markstrom is available so he is definitely untouchable

The only other prospect I see it being is Hutton cause every time he is brought up in conversation with Benning, he gushes over him

Come to think of it, the 5 prospects that Benning constantly gushes over is Virtanen, McCann, Cassels, Demko and Hutton. So may be Gaunce is available. Either way those 6 are defintetly the Canucks top 6 prospects with Grenier and Corrado 7th and 8th. That is, if Horvat is no longer considered a prospect

[Blob Mckenzie]

Gaunce is a soft , slow marshmallow . Can't see him amounting to much more than a 3rd liner at best .

[2Fingers]

Lol other than Horvat none of them are good enough to be untouchable . I like a lot of what Virtanen brings but he had a pretty shitty year - I'm sure in part to recovering from an injury but there are warts in his game . Bo is the only guy in the system I see as a true corner stone so far .

How did Virtanen have a shitty year? 52 points in 50 games after an injury?

13 points in 14 playoff games.

Had 82 mins in penalties so he still played hard?

[Chef Boi RD]

Gaunce is a soft , slow marshmallow . Can't see him amounting to much more than a 3rd liner at best .

Beers have you been paying attention to the Utica playoff run? Gaunce has really asserted himself in the playoffs. Not bad for a rookie. Green uses him in key pressure situations. His skating has vastly improved and he actually throws some pretty good checks. He's far from soft but in Beers world if you ain't rockem socken em like Colton Orr, you are soft.

I see Gaunce as a quality bottom 6 player in the NHL who won't phone it in in the playoffs like Chris Higgins does.

Your boi Shinkaruk is bound for Europe like Steve Kariya, Jeff Tambellini and Josh Holden along with Jensen. The two can't cut the NHL mustard

[Diehard1]

Gaunce is a soft , slow marshmallow . Can't see him amounting to much more than a 3rd liner at best .

Beers have you been paying attention to the Utica playoff run? Gaunce has really asserted himself in the playoffs. Not bad for a rookie. Green uses him in key pressure situations. His skating has vastly improved and he actually throws some pretty good checks. He's far from soft but in Beers world if you ain't rockem socken em like Colton Orr, you are soft.

I see Gaunce as a quality bottom 6 player in the NHL who won't phone it in in the playoffs like Chris Higgins does.

Your boi Shinkaruk is bound for Europe like Steve Kariya, Jeff Tambellini and Josh Holden along with Jensen. The two can't cut the NHL mustard

Yep, Gaunce has been good this whole run. I wouldn't call him soft by any means, he's strong on the forecheck and along the wall. His main issue is his first step because his top end speed is quite good.

Shinkaruk needs a summer to gain some leg strength, he gets overpowered at the moment. I won't be worried about him for another year at least.

[Lloyd Braun]

Lol other than Horvat none of them are good enough to be untouchable . I like a lot of what Virtanen brings but he had a pretty shitty year - I'm sure in part to recovering from an injury but there are warts in his game . Bo is the only guy in the system I see as a true corner stone so far .

How did Virtanen have a shitty year? 52 points in 50 games after an injury?

13 points in 14 playoff games.

Had 82 mins in penalties so he still played hard?

For a winger picked sixth overall in his draft+1 season, those are extremely modest numbers. Yeah... we kinda have to consider it a disappointing year. It's looking like Virtanen's strength will be his speed and physical play, not his scoring.

That said, he'll probably still be an extremely valuable player. If we can get a faster, bigger, and more skilled version of Raffi Torres, we'll have a heart and soul guy who helps to set the culture for the team. Word is that he was asked to work on his defensive game this year, and has received praise for his work to become more responsible, so that's a huge plus too.

BTW, Torres had 91 points in 68 games (5 goals, 2 assists in 6 playoff games) the year before he was drafted and 70 in 55 games (7g, 4a, in 8 playoff games) the year after. A point per game in the CHL does not make for a particularly good season, especially for a top 10 draft pick.

[Diehard1]

Lol other than Horvat none of them are good enough to be untouchable . I like a lot of what Virtanen brings but he had a pretty shitty year - I'm sure in part to recovering from an injury but there are warts in his game . Bo is the only guy in the system I see as a true corner stone so far .

How did Virtanen have a shitty year? 52 points in 50 games after an injury?

13 points in 14 playoff games.

Had 82 mins in penalties so he still played hard?

For a winger picked sixth overall in his draft+1 season, those are extremely modest numbers. Yeah... we kinda have to consider it a disappointing year. It's looking like Virtanen's strength will be his speed and physical play, not his scoring.

That said, he'll probably still be an extremely valuable player. If we can get a faster, bigger, and more skilled version of Raffi Torres, we'll have a heart and soul guy who helps to set the culture for the team. Word is that he was asked to work on his defensive game this year, and has received praise for his work to become more responsible, so that's a huge plus too.

BTW, Torres had 91 points in 68 games (5 goals, 2 assists in 6 playoff games) the year before he was drafted and 70 in 55 games (7g, 4a, in 8 playoff games) the year after. A point per game in the CHL does not make for a particularly good season, especially for a top 10 draft pick.

I understand what you are saying, but comparing prospect scoring across different leagues and 15 years apart is close to meaningless. Virtanen at present looks like a guy who can play on the 4th line and be physical I agree; where his scoring goes from here who the hell knows.

[Island Nucklehead]

Virtanen will be fine. He'll likely have his 19 year old season back in the WHL next season, and will be eligible to go up and down between the AHL and NHL as a 20-year old in 2016/17.

[Lloyd Braun]

You're right. It isn't a good comparison. But the point is still valid. Compare Virtanen to other present day WHL forward prospects, and you'll see the same thing. His numbers are not indicative of a high first round pick.

I picked Torres because I feel their games are similar. They were both drafted high in the first round (Torres #5 overall in 2000) because of good goal-scoring seasons in Junior combined with a strong physical game.

I don't mean to bash Virtanen here. I like the pick if only because every team needs a few guys who aren't flashy scorers but play a mean, physical game without giving up the skill and speed needed to keep up with their teammates. There's a reasonable chance that Virtanen becomes a 25-30ish goal scorer vs Torres' 15-20ish goals in his prime. That would make him a phenomenal pick. As it stands, Virtanen is likely to become a very valuable role player, which makes him an acceptable if underwhelming choice.

[2Fingers]

If Virtanen had 120 points then people would say he doesn't play well in his own end.

If he doesn't get penalty minutes then he is soft.

Virtanen can be a 2nd line player or a 4th line or not even make the NHL, who knows. But I do know any predictions made about him now means about as much as the toilet paper after I use the bathroom.

Would be interesting to see what people thought about Horvat before the season started. His 2nd season is more important than the first, I hope WD can give him some tougher minutes to see how he does.

[BurningBeard]

Brandon Reid scored 126 points in 57 games the season after being drafted. CHL stats often do not correlate to NHL potential.

[Cousin Strawberry]

My thinking is he could be a Blake wheeler type

[SKYO]

Gaunce is a soft , slow marshmallow . Can't see him amounting to much more than a 3rd liner at best .

Gaunce is sadly is the next SAAD....see homie's beard?

[Diehard1]

You're right. It isn't a good comparison. But the point is still valid. Compare Virtanen to other present day WHL forward prospects, and you'll see the same thing. His numbers are not indicative of a high first round pick.

I picked Torres because I feel their games are similar. They were both drafted high in the first round (Torres #5 overall in 2000) because of good goal-scoring seasons in Junior combined with a strong physical game.

I don't mean to bash Virtanen here. I like the pick if only because every team needs a few guys who aren't flashy scorers but play a mean, physical game without giving up the skill and speed needed to keep up with their teammates. There's a reasonable chance that Virtanen becomes a 25-30ish goal scorer vs Torres' 15-20ish goals in his prime. That would make him a phenomenal pick. As it stands, Virtanen is likely to become a very valuable role player, which makes him an acceptable if underwhelming choice.

Points don't always translate - Getzlaf wasn't a great scorer in junior, neither is Pavel Zacha yet he's a consensus top 10 guy this year. Getzlaf has been an elite scorer in the NHL and Zacha may be as well. Even a guy like Horvat didn't score a PPG in his draft year yet looks like he will score at the NHL level.

As you said though, the good thing about Virtanen is he's got the physical and nasty side down even if the points don't come. His downside is probably a Raffi Torres type, hopefully without the stupidity, while his upside is Brendan Shanahan.

[Blob Mckenzie]

I see a Torres type at this point but would love to be proven wrong . He had one assist in 10 games with the Comets which looks pretty bad . I'd let him finish his junior career myself but Ignitowski is on record as saying they he will probably play in Vancouver . He will likely deal Kassian for a 3rd rounder or the negotiating rights to Matt Bartkowski to make that happen . All hail Benning !