Eight of the 30 first-round picks from the 2014 NHL Entry Draft made their debuts in the 2015-16 campaign, including Vancouver Canucks forwards Jared McCann and Jake Virtanen. Since McCann got traded to the Florida Panthers for help on the blue line this offseason, we don’t need to worry about his role anymore. But where does Virtanen slot in for 2016-17?
Thanks to the NHL’s agreement with the Canadian Hockey League, there were only two options for Virtanen: Vancouver Canucks or WHL Calgary Hitmen. The Canucks chose to keep him in Vancouver for the whole season, with exception of the 2016 World Junior Championship in Helsinki, Finland, where they loaned Virtanen to Team Canada.