Vancouver Canucks Roster News 2015: Will Keep Rookies McCann, Virtanen
The Vancouver Canucks are a team that has been traditionally dependent on veterans when it comes to winning, but Sunday proved that the team is heading into a new direction with the retention of two rookies who are both 19 years old — Jared McCann and Jake Virtanen. This latest decision came in as somewhat surprising because the last time the Canucks have teenagers in their roster was about 30 years ago.
The team staff did make it very difficult for both teenagers to pull through, forcing them to sweat it out to earn their rightful spots. They eventually were told that they no longer will be returning to their respective Canadian Hockey League junior teams.
The move may well be a sweeping decision, telling everyone in the league that the team is moving toward building a youth movement. McCann and Virtanen will be joining other young players in the Canucks lineup like Ben Hutton and Bo Horvat, while veterans Alex Edler, Dan Hamhuis, and Henrik and Daniel Sedin make their exit in the near future.
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It also helps that the Canucks are on a roll lately, currently sitting first in the Pacific Division, which means that the team can afford to give it some experimenting by letting the two rookies show what they can do in the games ahead.
However, it should be noted that both players can still be relegated to the junior league once again before the 41-game mark. They likewise could be loaned by their team to represent Canada for the December world juniors.
McCann is a first round selection (24th pick) of the Canucks in last year's entry draft and was later given a three-year entry-level contract by the team. Virtanen, meanwhile, is a veteran campaigner for team Canada, having played in international competitions like the 2013 World U-17 Hockey Challenge, 2014 IIHF World U18 Championships, and 2015 IIHF World U20 Championships.
