The Winnipeg Jets went to Finland to select centre Santeri Virtanen from TPS’s junior team. Virtanen is not related to Jake Virtanen of the Vancouver Canucks. Virtanen played in very few games this year, but when he played he was able to produce. In five games with TPS’s under 20 team he recorded six points. When he played with Finland at the under 18 level he produced eight points in eleven games. The previous year he had 45 points in 35 games with TPS’s under 18 team.
Even though he missed most of this season with a shoulder injury, the numbers are there to show that Virtanen could still be a good player if he is fully recovered and gets some full seasons under his belt. It is possible that he starts this upcoming season with TPS’s under 20 team with the potential for call ups to their top team if he performs.
This is the first non-defenceman that the Jets have taken since Kristian Vesalainen.
