Why McCann and Virtanen Should Stick with the Canucks Past Their 9-Game Trials

8 years ago

Photo Credit: Sergei Belski/USA TODAY Sports

Nine games into the new NHL season, the Vancouver Canucks’ young forwards don’t look out of place.

Jared McCann and Jake Virtanen both continued to state their compelling cases for spending the season in the NHL, and were both standouts in the Canucks’ convincing 5-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night.

As the Canucks hit the road for back-to-back games against the Dallas Stars on Thursday and the Arizona Coyotes on Friday, the clock is ticking on the trial periods for both 19-year-olds.

Here’s a look at the finer points of the league’s policy regarding young players and where McCann and Virtanen stand.

What’s the fuss about the nine-game threshold?

A player can play up to nine games in the NHL without triggering the first year of his entry-level contract. When he suits up for Game 10, that starts the clock on the three-year rookie deal. The start date of that contract will determine when the player becomes a restricted free agent and, eventually, an unrestricted free agent—where the big paydays typically come (although they don’t accrue a year towards unrestricted free agency until they’ve been on the roster for 40 games).

As a rule, it’s in a team’s best interests to prolong a player’s entry-level period for as long as possible. It saves the club money in the short term, allows the player to further develop his game before jumping into the NHL and gives both sides a bigger body of work to analyze when it’s time to lock down that next contract.

Also, if a player becomes a full-time NHL player at age 18 or 19, he’ll eventually hit unrestricted free agency a year or two earlier than he would otherwise—after his seventh NHL season instead of at age 27. If he was good enough to crack the league as a teen, he’s also probably good enough to earn a fat contract once the terms of negotiation finally tip in his favour.

The Canucks would benefit over the long term if they demote Virtanen and McCann, as they’d be more likely to retain an element of control over the player’s costs right up to age 27. It’s tough for NHL general managers to make decisions based on how situations will play out seven or eight years down the road though. Every GM knows that if his team isn’t successful in the here and now, he won’t be around when players like McCann and Virtanen become UFAs.

Why Would Virtanen and McCann Have to Go Back to Junior?

Because they’re still 19 and came up through major junior in the CHL, Virtanen and McCann are too young to be assigned to the Utica Comets in the AHL. If they don’t stay with the Canucks, they’ll have to be re-assigned to their junior clubs—the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL in Virtanen’s case and the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the OHL for McCann.

Canucks fans became familiar with this scenario last season, when Bo Horvat became the first teenager to crack the Vancouver roster since Ryan Kesler did it 11 years earlier.

A preseason shoulder injury extended Horvat’s development arc. The Canucks were able to send the 19-year-old to Utica for five games for a conditioning stint before he made his debut in a Vancouver uniform on November 4, 2014.

On November 25, just before his ninth game and two days after a dominant three-assist performance against the Chicago Blackhawks, Horvat was told that he had made the team for the year. If he had been sent down, he would have returned to the OHL’s London Knights.

For the record, Kesler came up through the U.S. National Development Team and one year of college hockey, so the junior hockey stipulation didn’t apply to him—just as it doesn’t apply this season to fellow Michigan native Dylan Larkin of the Detroit Red Wings.

Kesler was able to spend 33 games with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose during his first year as a pro, but still burned the first year of his entry-level contract as a 19-year-old. Year 2 of his deal was wiped out by the 2004-05 lockout, which set up the Philadelphia Flyers’ offer sheet one year later during the summer of 2006. Kesler signed a one-year deal at $1.9 million with the Flyers as a 22-year-old who had scored just 23 points the previous season. In order to retain his rights, the Canucks were forced to match, overpaying a still-unproven player and raising his base salary at a time when the salary cap was a modest $44 million.

Can the Kids Contribute?

Horvat’s NHL breakthrough wasn’t based solely on that one good game against the Blackhawks last season, but it certainly helped the Canucks’ coaching staff commit to him at a hight point, where fans could easily get on board. He didn’t disappoint, which has set a good precedent for McCann and Virtanen. Both played arguably the best games of their young careers on Tuesday night against another tough opponent in the then-undefeated Canadiens.

McCann was named first star on Tuesday thanks to his two-goal first period, while Virtanen logged a team-high seven hits, played a career high 15:10 and picked up the first assist of his NHL career with a nifty feed to Derek Dorsett in the third period.

Heading into the two-game road trip, McCann leads the Canucks with four goals, which would be impressive for any fourth-liner, let alone a raw rookie. Still, Willie Desjardins remains uncertain about the durability of McCann’s 19-year-old body over the course of the long season.

For his part, Virtanen has demonstrated his robust playing style when he has had the chance. He leads the Canucks with 22 hits in just six games played. Like McCann, who’s plus-3 so far, Virtanen is also demonstrating that even with increased responsibility, he’s not a defensive liability. He’s plus-2.

In the early going, the 2015-16 Canucks are better with McCann and Virtanen in the lineup than they’d be without them.

What’s the Downside?

The Canucks organization has made it clear that the goal over the next few seasons is to rebuild on the fly—developing young players within a winning tradition.

It’s not an easy path to follow. The concern is that without high draft picks, a team will continue to hover in the middle third of the standings, never acquiring enough talent to take a real run at the Stanley Cup.

The Canucks have done well to defy that wisdom in the early going this season, getting solid contributions from 147th-overall pick Ben Hutton, who’s now 22 but has been a rock on the blue line, as well as a late first-rounder in McCann, chosen with the 24th pick that Vancouver acquired as part of the Ryan Kesler trade in 2014.

McCann, Virtanen and Hutton have all looked good, but Wyatt Arndt offers up some old-school hockey wisdom in Tuesday night’s edition of The Provies, courtesy of an unnamed NHL scout:

In McCann’s case, the scout believes the hardest position to break into in the NHL is centre, not defense. You have to play in a lot of open space offensively and defensively.
Wingers have a wall on one side, which makes things easier. You get stuck in open ice against even a 2nd line center in the NHL, and that’s a difficult situation for a young guy to play against consistently.
The scout does think McCann is going to be a good 2nd line center, but believes the Detroit model of taking your time with young prospects is the way to go.
“Remember Brule and Klesla? Columbus ruined them. Klelsa should still be playing in this league, but Columbus exposed him to the NHL too early.”

Klesla lasted 13 seasons and 658 games as an NHL defenceman after being selected fourth overall in 2000. He played eight games as a rookie, then played 75 as a 19-year-old. Centre Gilbert Brule was drafted sixth overall from the Vancouver Giants in 2005, played seven games as an 18-year-old, then jumped to the NHL full time at age 19. Now 28, Brule in his second season in the KHL.

For every Klesla or Brule, there’s a Sean Monahan, in his third full season at centre for the Calgary Flames at age 20 or an Aaron Ekblad, who continues to excel on the Florida Panthers’ blue line at 19. Every situation is different.

The Canucks model diverges from the 2000-2005 Blue Jackets because Vancouver currently boasts a core of veteran talent that can still carry a big load while the kids develop. In the early going, Willie Desjardins has shown his inclination to rely on veteran players when the game is on the line, but he seems to be getting the message that he may not need to be so cautious.

So far this season, both Virtanen and McCann have shown that they’re able to handle the responsibilities of their positions. Knowing how Horvat developed last year, it’s tough not to hope for this year’s kids to follow the same learning curve in an equally nurturing environment.

So far, McCann has played seven games while Virtanen has played six, so no decisions will need to be made on their status for this season until after the team returns from the current road trip. If the kids can keep doing what they’ve been doing, they should both be sticking with the team for the rest of the season.

Why McCann and Virtanen Should Stick with the Canucks Past Their 9-Game Trials

Check out these posts...