Edmonton Oilers release former Canuck Jake Virtanen from professional tryout

The Edmonton Oilers have released forward Jake Virtanen from his professional tryout agreement, TSN’s Darren Dreger reported Thursday.

Virtanen, 26, recorded zero goals and two assists in a league-leading six games with the Oilers during the 2022 pre-season.

Originally selected sixth overall by the Vancouver Canucks back in 2014, Virtanen never lived up to expectations over parts of six seasons with the club and was bought out of his contract in 2021.

Virtanen spent the 2021–22 season in the Kontinental Hockey League with Spartak Moscow, finishing ninth in team scoring — six spots behind Sergei Shirokov — with 16 points in 36 games.

The Oilers elected to bring in the winger on a tryout basis but he failed to click with the team during training camp and is now, once again, officially without an NHL job.

In 317 career NHL regular-season games with the Canucks, Virtanen scored 55 goals and 100 points. He finished his most recent NHL campaign, 2020–21, with just five points (all goals) through 38 games.

Wednesday night in Virtanen’s home town of Abbotsford was the last game he played this preseason, in which he was greeted by boos from Canucks fans.