HW Staff Mock Draft Pick 9: Jake Virtanen

Who is Jake Virtanen?

Jake Virtanen is described as a pure power forward. He has a lot of skating speed, and his speed is even more impressive considering his 6'1", 210 lbs frame. In fact, he was the the fastest skater at the BMO Top Prospect game. With both size and speed, he can power through defenders. Because he's an aggressive and physical player, he gets to the net easily and uses his skillful hands to score.

Virtanen projects to be a top-six power forward if he can learn to be consistent.

In spite of the Jets need for goaltending improvement, I think they don't think they need an upgrade and as such, they will draft a forward. Drafting a right shot would give the Jets the option to move Byfuglien back to defense if they chose. They have a lot of centers in the pipeline too, so they are going to need talented players to play with the prospects they already have. Since Virtanen is a large guy with speed who doesn't care about defense as much as he should, he fits in really well with the players that the Jets already have who play this style.

How Would He Fit in with the Wild?

The Wild need more right shot forwards, especially scorers, and Virtanen is a scorer. Additionally, Virtanen's size and speed could only be an asset to the Wild. He likes to shoot, which is something that the Wild also could use. The great defensive forwards on the Wild may be able to help him progress into a player who can be defensively responsible and disciplined. If Virtanen were to slip down to the Wild, they would probably send him back to the Calgary Hitmen for a year to help him get some consistency and discipline to his game.