Some top 10 draft picks in the National Hockey League Draft go on to have storied careers in the NHL. Others run into production trouble on the ice and never get their footing at the NHL level, and in some cases, the pressure of being a higher pick leads to off-ice concerns.
The latter is true for former Vancouver Canucks Forward Jake Virtanen. Virtanen, 25, was the 6th overall selection in the 2014 NHL entry draft by the Canucks. However, recent legal troubles led to his signing in the KHL this past September after Vancouver placed him on leave in May of 2021 and released him this past summer. He was charged with one count of sexual assault. The incident in question happened in September of 2017 while he was a member of the Canucks.
Before his release from Spartak Moscow for "breach of contract" for presumably leaving the team after Russia invaded Ukraine late last month, Virtanen appeared in 36 KHL games registering 9 goals and 7 assists for 16 points.
Opinion: With the legal trouble that has yet to be resolved following him around, I highly doubt any team in North America will want to associate, much less employ the troubled forward. However, one thing is clear, for now at least, Virtanen's professional hockey career is teetering on the brink of extinction once again.
