The young power forward from Abby, BC, was drafted 6th overall by the Canucks in 2014. He took pride of being such a high draft pick, and the Canucks took pride in Virtanen being a future member of their core in the future. But then things would go downhill, as Virtanen failed to adapt to the big league level last season. And while he performed mediocre up to the Christmas break, his big slump came after being sent down prior to the World Junior Tournament. And so came the downfall of his young career, as Virtanen would become a scapegoat in team Canada's extremely early exit at that year's tournament, despite having taken it home in the previous one. But the Nucks organization, who do well in taking care and defending their players (As Corey Hirsch's story, which recently came out, reveals), defended Virtanen, trusting in his talents. He immediately came back stronger, scoring a game tying goal in his first NHL game back from the tournament. And while his season still remained mediocre, the Canucks still would put their trust in them, while shipping away younger players who could've been members of their future, like Nicklas Jensen and Jared McCann.
Virtanen finished the season with 13 points. Not bad...
The following season, the current one, Virtanen played in a few games with the Canucks, and his slump was noticed by the fans. He would go around the system back and forth between the NHL and the AHL, due to injury woes, but in the end, Virtanen remained down in the minors, where he currently is.
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