Vancouver, BC – Vancouver Canucks General Manager Jim Benning announced today that the club has assigned forward Jake Virtanen to the Utica Comets on a conditioning assignment.

Virtanen, 19, has played 19 games, recording four points (1-3-4) and 15 penalty minutes in his rookie season with Vancouver. During the 2014.15 season, Virtanen appeared in 50 games with the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL, where he scored 52 points (21-31-52) and logged 82 penalty minutes. He played 14 playoff games (5-8-13) for the Hitmen last season before joining the Comets Calder Cup run and playing another 10 postseason games (0-1-1).

The Abbotsford, B.C. native has missed the past four games due to injury. Virtanen was selected sixth overall by the Canucks in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.