He was the first British Columbia born player selected in the first round by the Canucks since Cam Neely in 1983.
1996
Jacob Virtanen (born August 17, 1996) is a Canadian professional ice hockey who is currently with the Fischtown Pinguins of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL).
Virtanen was born August 17, 1996, in New Westminster, British Columbia, and spent his first 12 years living in Langley, British Columbia, before settling in nearby Abbotsford.
Growing up, Virtanen attended Fraser Middle School Hockey Academy where he played rugby through grade 7 and 8.
In eighth grade, he helped the team win the Fraser Valley 7s and the full-on league for Grade 8 15-a-side teams.
He caught the attention of his physical education teacher who, after convincing him to continue playing rugby seriously, personally trained him on the rules of the sport.
Virtanen's middle school fed directly into the W.A. Fraser Skills academy, which he also attended along with Yale Hockey Academy.
While attending Yale Secondary School which worked with the hockey Academy, Virtanen was praised for his wrist shot from the executive director Billy Wilms.
He said in an interview that "Jake stood out as a kid who you just knew was going to be a pro, in grade 9...His wrist shot was harder than my slap shot when we did skill testing...Jake steps up and fires an 81 with a snapper, and he was only in grade 9."
His father, Rainer, immigrated from Finland and his mother is French Canadian.
Virtanen acquired jus sanguinis Finnish citizenship through his father and has a tattoo of the Finnish coat of arms on his right forearm.
Growing up in Abbotsford, Virtanen began his minor hockey career there.
2010
As a member of the Abbotsford Hawks at the bantam level in 2010–11, Virtanen scored 68 goals and 117 points in 59 games.
2011
As a 15-year-old, Virtanen spent most of the 2011–12 season in midget hockey with the Fraser Valley Bruins where he scored 39 points in 39 games and recorded 120 penalty minutes.
The Western Hockey League (WHL)'s Calgary Hitmen selected Virtanen with the first overall pick at the 2011 WHL Bantam Draft.
He appeared in nine games for the Hitmen during the 2011–12 season and was a regular for Calgary in 2012–13.
The Hockey News projected Virtanen to be a "pure goal scorer" in the NHL and ranked him 11th overall in its draft preview.
The magazine praised both his physical ability and the quality shot, but added that he is not known as a playmaker and that his "hockey sense" required development.
2013
Virtanen played junior hockey with the Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League (WHL) and has represented Canada five times in international competition at the 2013 World U-17 Hockey Challenge, 2013 U-18 Junior World Cup, 2014 IIHF World U18 Championships, 2015 IIHF World U20 Championships and 2016 IIHF World U20 Championships.
2014
Virtanen was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks sixth overall in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.
Virtanen scored 16 goals and 34 points in 62 games and began to establish himself as a highly ranked prospect for the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.
Returning to Calgary for his second full junior season, Virtanen nearly tripled his goal scoring total from the previous season and finished with 45 on the year.
He added 26 assists to finish with 71 points.
The NHL Central Scouting Bureau ranked Virtanen as the ninth-best North American skater for the 2014 Draft at its midseason ranking and he played in the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game.
Virtanen moved up three spots in NHL Central Scouting's year-end ranking and entered the Draft ranked sixth among North American skaters.
He had shoulder surgery in May 2014 that was expected to sideline him until December 2014.
Virtanen was selected 6th overall in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft by the Vancouver Canucks.
On July 25, 2014, Virtanen announced he had signed an entry-level contract with the Canucks via Twitter.
When posting about his deal he said,"such an honour to sign with the Vancouver Canucks! I'd like to thank everybody who's helped me get to this point especially my family!!"
He returned to the Hitmen for his final year of major junior hockey before being reassigned to the Canucks' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Utica Comets, following their WHL Playoff elimination.
2015
Virtanen immediately joined the Comets' 2015 Calder Cup playoffs lineup on May 18, where he made his professional debut during Game 6 of the Western Conference Semifinals.
Following the 2–1 loss to the Oklahoma City Barons, he said it was "a great experience and exciting time with a great group of guys. The guys up here are a lot bigger and the game is faster. The game was exciting and the fans were amazing up here. The atmosphere in the rink is incredible."
He continued to play with the Comets during their postseason push, eventually recording his first professional assist on a Sven Bärtschi goal in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals against the Grand Rapids Griffins.
Following his stint in the AHL, Virtanen was invited to participate in the Canucks 2015 training camp prior to the 2015–16 season.
He impressed during the camp by recording two goals and two assists in six pre-season games and was subsequently named to their opening night roster.
His NHL debut came days later when he was subbed in as a replacement for Jared McCann on October 13 prior to the Canucks contest with the Los Angeles Kings.
He went scoreless in his debut but later recording his first NHL point (an assist) on a Derek Dorsett goal in a 5–1 win against the Montreal Canadiens.
On November 1, 2015, it was announced Virtanen and McCann had made the Canucks' team past their nine-game "tryout" period which would have sent them back to juniors without wasting a year of their contract.
Following this decision, Virtanen, playing alongside Brandon Sutter, scored his first career NHL goal in a 3–1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.
After recording one goal and four points in 19 games with the Canucks, he was reassigned to the Comets on a condition stint.
