As you may know by now, I am hoping for the Vancouver Canucks to play Loui Eriksson on their second line with Sven Baertschi and Bo Horvat. Create two legitimate scoring lines and all, you know? But, I also know that probably won’t happen at the beginning of the season, and thankfully, there is another great option for the Baertschi-Horvat line: Jake Virtanen.
Virtanen had a tough rookie season. He was one of many players who seem too far in their development to play in junior, but not far enough to be full-time NHLers. Thanks to the NHL’s agreement with the CHL, however, players like Virtanen aren’t allowed to play in the American Hockey League.