Playing for Green, he had 19 points (nine goals, 10 assists) in 65 games. Virtanen played 10 games for the Canucks last season and had one assist.
"A lot of people talk about his year last year, that they didn't think it was a good year for him," Green said. "I think it was really good. He went through some tough times, had a little adversity, and that's part of it. He did a lot of learning. Sometimes hard learning is the best learning.
"The AHL is a tough league. What I like is that I think we got to a point with Jake that he really understands what he has to do to be successful."
Green said Virtanen's tough times -- scoring droughts and reduced ice time -- presented an opportunity, possibly a turning point.
"We had a lot of open communication and dialogue with Jake, as we do with other players, but sometimes … well, he didn't hit bottom but he was having a tough go of it," Green said. "It was probably good for him. You need to go through adversity.
"You get to see what they're made of when things are hard and it's going to be hard in the future. It's hard to win in the NHL. And I want players that can go through adversity and can come out on top." When you're in a playoff series, you're going to have adversity. There will be pressure and you want guys who can get through that adversity when things do go well."
Green said that he had plenty of offseason conversation with veteran forwards Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin, and likes everything he's heard.
"They're really good people, fantastic for the city of Vancouver," he said. "They've been everything we've hoped and dreamed of. They're Hall of Fame players and they're a big part of our team still. They're leaders on our team and I like what I hear from them that they're hungry to turn things around.
"When you're a good leader and a veteran leader, well, you need those guys to be hungry and they have will to win. I talk about will to win a lot. They've got a high will to win and I'm anxious to see how they look in training camp and I'm confident they're going to have a real good year."