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Canucks reportedly shopping former top-10 pick

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Colton Pankiw
February 17, 2021  (10:19 PM)
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Per Sportsnet's Chris Johnston, the Vancouver Canucks are reportedly looking to shop forward Jake Virtanen in order to free up some cap space.

Virtanen, 24, has spent his entire 293-game career in Vancouver. It has been a rocky tenure to this point, as the 6th overall pick has struggled with consistency and has not turned into the high scoring forward many had envisioned at the 2014 draft. Last season saw him set career highs with 18 goals and 36 points in 69 games played. While the season was an overall success, he followed it up with a brutal playoff performance in which he had just three points in 16 contests.

Despite the down playoff performance, general manager Jim Benning still chose to re-sign Virtanen to a two-year deal, and early on that doesn't look like a great decision. The Canucks as a whole have struggled to begin the 2020-21 season, and Virtanen is no exception as he has just one goal in 14 games. His deal, which runs through the 2021-22 season, carries a cap hit of $2.55 million.

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