The Vancouver Canucks officially open up the 2019/20 NHL season tonight against the Edmonton Oilers—but they’ve already had one hell of a week as far as social media firestorms go. One player’s name has dominated #Canucks Twitter over the past 48 hours, and so you had to know that said individual would also be the focus of What Would You Do Wednesday.

When Sven Baertschi was placed on waivers Monday morning, along with Nikolay Goldobin and Alex Biega, it set off a veritable tidal wave of online condemnations—many of which seemed to make some pretty fair points. The Baertschi news blitz continued the next day when all three Canucks somewhat unexpectedly cleared waivers. Some reacted with surprise, and others with smug satisfaction. Some conceptualized the whole experience in a more metaphysical sense.

Now that the embers of the internet rage machine have died down and everyone has shared their opinion on the initial waiving, it’s time for you—valued reader—to chime in on the question that still needs to be answered.

Last week, we asked:

Note: Due to the high volume of responses to this topic, we’ve had to do a little bit of trimming in putting together this edition of WWYDW. If your comment didn’t make the cut, please accept this author’s sincere apologies—and be glad you’ve got something to shoot for this time around.

One can only conclude that he lacks the will or maturity to be sufficiently committed to being a successful Canuck. Not meeting Green’s standards for the physical and then having an up-and-down preseason suggests we’re in for a season of inconsistency. It might be best for both parties to move on, with Virtanen being a chip played to unload Eriksson’s salary.

As a team that routinely ends up seeing some of the highest games lost to injury, I think it would be a disservice to the roster to move on from Virtanen this early in the season. When the injuries happen and Jake is forced up in the lineup, he better seize the opportunity—if he doesn’t, think about trading him at the trade deadline.

Virtanen’s value is very low at the moment, so I don’t know how much of a point there is in trading him. It clears up a roster slot for sure, but I don’t know that you dump him just to keep Tim Schaller or Tyler Motte. At this point, all you can really do is play him and hope he picks it up. There’s nothing wrong with keeping him on the 3rd or 4th line as an energy forward either, with the occasional promotion when the top two lines need a jolt. However, you do listen to trade offers for him and continue to do so regardless of how his season starts.

Virtanen is not the player they hoped, but he’s still pretty good and has lots of potential for improvement. Also, he’s cheap. So play him on the third scoring line, where he belongs. If he gets only 12 minutes a night, well that’s all his conditioning likely allows anyway.

Opportunity comes at unexpected times and people often ask, “Why was I passed over?” It’s because what you do day-in, day-out sets you up to take advantage. The Boeser injury should have been the opportunity Jake needed to play with Petey and Ferland and establish himself as a top forward. But his history and this preseason shows he can bring it for a short time but not all the time.

His highs are high, his lows are rock bottom.

So, I expect he won’t get the chance.

Right now he is in a battle just to stay in the lineup.

Opportunity waits for no man.

You cannot put Virtanen on waivers because someone would immediately pluck him and, at $1.5M per, they’d be getting a highly serviceable young player gratis. He wouldn’t get that much back in a trade presently of note either. I suggest Mr. Benning assigns Jake to the press box as 13th/14th forward because you don’t want to lose him for nothing.

I think Bertuzzi has it about right

Bertuzzi on Virtanen : “I hope he gets it, I want him to get it. If he’s not getting it after this long, then you have to ask yourself if he really wants to be there…I can’t answer for him, the signs are pointing to that maybe it’s becoming overwhelming playing in his hometown?”

To add to that I recall Burrows saying, “Maybe he’ll get it some day”

He just doesn’t get it, occasionally he might give a short flourish and then it’s back as before. Some of his disciples cling to the belief that he will turn it around, this despite his questionable history. Let’s hope JB understands the fish-or-cut-bait moment for this player is drawing very near. Leave it for much longer and you’ll need to give a pick to get rid of him. Will they extend him next summer?

Out of any of the players you would consider trading, the question is always the same, and the answer never known to us fans until after the fact.

What is coming back? Is it a high draft pick—anything less than a first/high second for JV seems like too much bitter for us to eat. We are overloaded on our roster, is he a significant upgrade to anyone there? I also think this team is going to look and play different this year, things might shake out different for Jake. I’m still in the “wait and see” camp for both him and Goldy.

I think Jakes “slow” development may end up being a blessing for the Canucks as they march towards their Cup window.

If Jake continues on this trajectory he will be hitting his power forward prime at the same time for the Canucks return to the play-offs

This works out well CAP-wise because he’s not going to be earning “core four” money and we need to round out our lineup with quality players earning reasonable dollars.

The Canucks are likely to keep nine wingers on the active roster. This will definitely include Miller, Ferland, Boeser, and Pearson. I’d argue Eriksson is also in the definitely category because he is far and away the best 4th liner for points and PK ability. Please don’t object to that statement before looking at the stats it is based on. (Author’s Note: Ya nailed it!)

That leaves four more spots, which shrinks to three when Roussel returns. Baertschi produces the most points of the remaining choices. He can help drive some offense from the 3rd line and shift up into the top-6. He stays as long as he is healthy. The Canucks have to keep at least one of Motte or Schaller to help kill penalties. The other gets waived. The numbers game also sends MacEwan down for the time being.

There are 2 spots left for Virtanen, Goldobin, and Leivo—one as a third line winger and one in the press box. One of these players needs to be waived or traded. Trading 3rd line wingers at this time of year will generate no return as teams in need (which are few) watch the waiver wire.

My choice right now is to waive Goldobin and put Jake in the press box. Virtanen will get games and maybe right away with the Boeser injury. Reassess the decision regularly based on performance.

In two to three months as teams have injuries and rookies falter the trade market will loosen up a bit. Make a trade before Roussel returns.

I’d give Big Jake about 40 games. At that point, I’d make a hard assessment of his effort and results over those 40 games, and trade him if he’s not getting results. It’s getting time to cut bait. And you trade him for a similar underperforming player elsewhere, in the hope both will flourish with a change of scenery. You DO NOT trade him for a second round pick that only has a 20% chance of even playing 200 NHL games. That’s a losing trade.

Jake coming into camp in poor shape this year is pretty much Jake saying he doesn’t care enough. It’s frustrating to watch.

The only trade scenario I would consider would be one that brings back another player in a similar situation. Higher pick that has been under achieving, roughly the same age. If you could find a taker. Straight-up for Puljujarvi-type thing. (Oilers would probably never go for that but I don’t think it’s an unfair offer. Jake is currently a better NHLer than he is, and that does matter.)

If that doesn’t happen, then just keep him until he either plays his way out of the NHL or improves. Makes no sense to trade him for any kind of pick because no pick offered—unless it’s a first rounder about 25^th or better—will give the value he already provides.