What’s the Verdict on Jake Virtanen’s Roster Spot?

Preparations for the upcoming season have held numerous decisions for the Canucks, and at least one remains. Sooner or later, the Canucks have to decide where Jake Virtanen plays.

It’s safe to assume at this point that Brock Boeser has locked down a spot with the Canucks, as he’s done just about everything aside from stopping pucks. The youth movement is making incremental gains on a roster spot, player by player, and Virtanen, who spent last season maturing under then-Utica Comets and current-Vancouver Canucks head coach Travis Green is leading the charge. Virtanen has shown enough to make the team.

This turnaround is happening a bit later than some expected (perhaps many), but better late than never, right? Virtanen’s drives to the net and his effective on the ice, calculated by the Corsi, shows that he is going to add value to the Canucks lineup in ways that other players can’t. His physical dimensions and speed are elements this team just desperately needs. Here’s how Virtanen stacked up in three of the six pre-season games:

Virtanen finished in the top five by Corsi for% in four of his six preseason games and had the actual stats to back it up. Racking up four goals and two assists with both a goal and an assist via the power play, Virtanen was as good as he could be with an opportunity that he really needed to make the most of. After the initial hype when Jake was drafted and the infamous hit on Connor McDavid in the Young Stars tourney a few years back, and his career path is finally meeting up with its proper timeline. Here’s that hit if you forgot:

There can’t be too much weight put into it, but Virtanen finished tied for 4th in goals in the Igloo League. (Side note: Igloo league is the new name I’ve given the preseason to mimic the cool names MLB has given its spring league).

Even looking at his special teams play, Virtanen was used heavily on the PP and considering who he was playing with over the last few weeks that’s a step towards a roster spot. Nobody is suggesting he gets to ride shotgun with the Sedins or that Bo Horvat gets to have the power forward on his line, but JV sure does give the Canucks a shot in the arm against opponents if he sticks.

His year in the AHL would be one to forget but it wasn’t the stat sheet that would have stood out, it’s the mentality of how to play as a pro and the commitment by Green to get him where the team needs him to be. There weren’t any signs last year pointing to Travis Green as the ACTUAL Canucks coach this season, but it would seem that working with Virtanen and seeing the results so far would give Jake the green light.

Management talks about creating spots for players if they earn them, well Jake Virtanen has earned his place as has Brock Boeser and the players before them in the last three seasons. In many of Virtanen’s interviews, he has given the impression he’s having fun and that the grunt work has paid off.

No talk of “his stuff” or his weight or his work ethic or really anything, his gameplay has spoken for itself. From what we’ve seen so far this year, the argument is there that he belongs in the NHL. What Virtanen gives the Canucks is a physical edge and at least one player that is willing to drive the net and get dirty.

He’s aware of what his body can do for him, and it’s time for the coaching staff and management to realize the same thing

Even if JV doesn’t crack the opening night roster, it will only be a matter of time before he does for good.