Canucks Young Guns

[nuckster]

I remember when Jake got drafted and it was the Canuck Mgt's contention that his injured shoulder was NOT going to be an issue. I recall too that there were many who clouted Nylander as being the better draft choice given his natural scoring prowess. Well here we are a year and a half later and Jake looks like a 'limp biscuit' and Nylander is putting the points on the board. Thing of this is, even if Benning had drafted Nylander, would WD insert him in the line-up? It appears that Toronto is operating in a climate of acceptance and support around their younger players re: defensive mistakes (in last night's game vs Anaheim, it looked like the predominant 'mistake-makers' were our more experienced players, i.e., Edler, Tanev, Sedins, etc).

I'm hopeful that Virtanen can still step up to the plate, but like many have stated already, it probably would be a good idea for him to have some time in Utica to help him get some confidence back via playing time - if his physical state permits it. I have to admit, I'm wondering even if Jake was doing well physically, does he really 'have it' upstairs to be a consistent and effective performer in the big league? Time will tell.

[SKYO]

Ehlers, Virtanen, Nylander was an extremely difficult decision, I was somewhat leaning to Nylander but everyone was making fun of me as Nylander looked like a girl. lolr

There's probably just too much pressure on the young lad now with both of those guys producing and JV will probably be in the AHL to develop, but in a couple years IF Virtanen could be like D. Brown, that's all we need from him for a strong 6-7 years of him manhandling dudes, then on decline at 32-33.

And I believe he has the tools to be a top 6 powerforward, just they take a long time to develop compared to pure scorers such as ehlers/nylander.

[Lancer]

Jayson Megna and Troy Stecher have been recalled by the @canucks.

Stetcher's time has come, apparently. Too bad it's likely at Tanev's expense as it seems he's a tad injured. Too bad it wasn't our magical line-walker who was put on the shelf.

The injury train has already started chugging...

[Mickey107]

Jayson Megna and Troy Stecher have been recalled by the @canucks.

Stetcher's time has come, apparently. Too bad it's likely at Tanev's expense as it seems he's a tad injured. Too bad it wasn't our magical line-walker who was put on the shelf.

The injury train has already started chugging...

At least this year we have some more depth so maybe we can be The Little Train That Could!
OK, that was bad! I just slapped myself so no one else has to.

[Lancer]

Jayson Megna and Troy Stecher have been recalled by the @canucks.

Stetcher's time has come, apparently. Too bad it's likely at Tanev's expense as it seems he's a tad injured. Too bad it wasn't our magical line-walker who was put on the shelf.

The injury train has already started chugging...

At least this year we have some more depth so maybe we can be The Little Train That Could!
OK, that was bad! I just slapped myself so no one else has to.

You deprive me of the pleasure....

I may slap you just for that.

[Mickey107]

Jayson Megna and Troy Stecher have been recalled by the @canucks.

Stetcher's time has come, apparently. Too bad it's likely at Tanev's expense as it seems he's a tad injured. Too bad it wasn't our magical line-walker who was put on the shelf.

The injury train has already started chugging...

At least this year we have some more depth so maybe we can be The Little Train That Could!
OK, that was bad! I just slapped myself so no one else has to.

You deprive me of the pleasure....

I may slap you just for that.

OK

[Topper]

wow, here come Yannick Weber MkII

[TDA Rum]

Ryan Biech ‏@ryanbiech
You can see #Canucks prospect on TSN:

Boeser - Jan 7
Lockwood - Dec 1 & 9
Gaudette - Jan 27, Feb 6

[damonberryman]

I remember when Jake got drafted and it was the Canuck Mgt's contention that his injured shoulder was NOT going to be an issue. I recall too that there were many who clouted Nylander as being the better draft choice given his natural scoring prowess. Well here we are a year and a half later and Jake looks like a 'limp biscuit' and Nylander is putting the points on the board. Thing of this is, even if Benning had drafted Nylander, would WD insert him in the line-up? It appears that Toronto is operating in a climate of acceptance and support around their younger players re: defensive mistakes (in last night's game vs Anaheim, it looked like the predominant 'mistake-makers' were our more experienced players, i.e., Edler, Tanev, Sedins, etc).

I'm hopeful that Virtanen can still step up to the plate, but like many have stated already, it probably would be a good idea for him to have some time in Utica to help him get some confidence back via playing time - if his physical state permits it. I have to admit, I'm wondering even if Jake was doing well physically, does he really 'have it' upstairs to be a consistent and effective performer in the big league? Time will tell.

Let's give him a couple of years. he is an immature 19 year old but has tools.

[vic]

Thing of this is, even if Benning had drafted Nylander, would WD insert him in the line-up?

Last year, Nylander got 16:20 a game starting 62% of his shifts in the offensive zone
This year, it's pretty much the same (16:10/60.8%)

Last year, Jake got 11:35 a game starting 52% of this shift in the offensive zone.
This year, in his limited number of games, Jake's numbers were 10:09 / 48.6%

So the question is if Willie had played Jake 15+ minutes per night and started him in the offensive zone for the vast majority of his shifts, where would he be right now in his development?

Edit: sources

Jake: http://www.hockey-reference.com/players ... aja01.html

Will: http://www.hockey-reference.com/players ... nwi01.html

[SKYO]

Thing of this is, even if Benning had drafted Nylander, would WD insert him in the line-up?

Last year, Nylander got 16:20 a game starting 62% of his shifts in the offensive zone
This year, it's pretty much the same (16:10/60.8%)

Last year, Jake got 11:35 a game starting 52% of this shift in the offensive zone.
This year, in his limited number of games, Jake's numbers were 10:09 / 48.6%

So the question is if Willie had played Jake 15+ minutes per night and started him in the offensive zone for the vast majority of his shifts, where would he be right now in his development?

The flaw with your post/question is that Nylander is much more talented than Jake which should be fairly evident by now, thus William can and should be deployed with those minutes/zone.

Jake will be fine, I hope he plays all season in the AHL under the tutelage of Travis Green, King etc.

As said ad nauseum, power forwards take a lot longer than skilled forwards to develop in this grown mans league.

I look at the LA Kings model of development, a lot of their stars have been in the AHL to learn like NHL college after high school (juniors).

For a comparison Dustin Brown played 31 games immediately in the NHL then a full 79 games in the AHL before he grew into his power forward bod' and started his superb early career.

Even after the AHL it still took Brown a few NHL years to come around.

So patience with Jake should be taken, we hope he can start to have a solid season in 2017 or more so in 2018, that's the long term focus that the fickle fans should be taking with Virtanen.

----

AsAnAside You figure on average it takes 3-4 years after getting drafted to have a young player come around in the NHL hit-or-miss, it's why having Benning here is great for the rebuild - for his drafting prowess, as he keeps on making solid picks, so we should be churning out some great players for the long haul.

[nuckster]

SKYO, let me ask you, knowing what you know now, who do you pick, Tkachuk or Juolevi?

[SKYO]

SKYO, let me ask you, knowing what you know now, who do you pick, Tkachuk or Juolevi?

Juolevi, it's like investing, Tkachuk will peak to a certain point, but Juolevi like a long term investment his stock will slowly but surely surpass Tkachuk in the long run.

Plus with a new long term focus with this team in terms of a new core post-Sedins-era, a guy like Juolevi will be paramount.

It's extremely hard to acquire a top pairing dman that Juolevi will surely become.

Look to see Juolevi take over Edler's spot in a few years (Finn's take awhile to develop, it would be nice if OJ could go to the SHL next year imesho.)

[Meds]

SKYO, let me ask you, knowing what you know now, who do you pick, Tkachuk or Juolevi?

Juolevi, it's like investing, Tkachuk will peak to a certain point, but Juolevi like a long term investment his stock will slowly but surely surpass Tkachuk in the long run.

Plus with a new long term focus with this team in terms of a new core post-Sedins-era, a guy like Juolevi will be paramount.

It's extremely hard to acquire a top pairing dman that Juolevi will surely become.

Look to see Juolevi take over Edler's spot in a few years (Finn's take awhile to develop, it would be nice if OJ could go to the SHL next year imesho.)

Good thoughts.

I'm hoping he doesn't take Edler's spot in a couple of years. I would prefer he take someone else's spot.....like say the someone who replaces Edler after we trade him at the TDL or draft this year.

[TDA Rum]

Willliam Lockwood plays on TSN 2 & 3 Tonight at 6 PM...