Why is it a mismatch. There were coaches who felt Hansen was a good fit alongside the Sedins due to his speed. I have said this before, people seem to have this firm idea of who would work well with the Sedins when the only they seem to favour is a right-handed shot.
The Sedins never needed a winger who can win them the puck on the boards. They never needed a playmaker. Virtanen is actually an underrated passer. He can get tunnel vision so people assume that he can't pass. The Sedins mostly needed a winger who can find open space and finish off opportunities that they create. Beyond that, the ability to be sprung on breakaways is a bonus.
When it comes to being annoyed by misconceptions about what the Sedins need to play with, you're preaching to the choir.
I agree that pure playmaking ability isn't that important, I think the right-handed shot preference is exaggerated as well, actually (except for that one play they have on the powerplay that everyone has already caught onto). They've had every bit as much success with left handed shots, if not more.
I've always thought Hansen was a great fit with the Sedins. I don't see him as being an identical player to Virtanen in terms of compatible/incompatible attributes with them, though.
The only attribute that the Sedins have traditionally required in a linemate (before they became so slow that they required someone to do all the dirty work for them) is someone with strong hockey IQ/instincts/decision-making who doesn't require the puck on their stick to be effective, has a knack for finding open space, and has the ability to get a quick shot off of a pass. Those are the guys they develop chemistry with. Hansen fits that criteria. He's been a finding-open-space-in-the-slot, one-timer-trigger-man-shooter type ever since that first year where he developed chemistry with Burrows and Kesler.
As good as Virtanen is playing right now, he generally isn't that type of player. He's generally a puck-carrier who relies on his physicality, ability to create space and shoot off rushes and individual efforts. As you said, he has a bit of tunnel-vision and his decision-making without the puck can be suspect. He's getting better at it, but it clearly doesn't come naturally to him to look for open space the way that a guy like Boeser does. His weaknesses are generally the only thing that the Sedins have traditionally needed in a winger in order to develop chemistry in the offensive zone, and it's a similar reason why Bernier/Booth were so awful with them despite being strong along the boards, physical players with good shots (which people incorrectly identified as being a need for the Sedins).
But, as I said, I predicted that it would still be the only combination that worked on our roster, despite not being ideal for these reasons. Because the Sedins have gotten so slow and weak that the importance of having a winger who can be all over the ice doing all the little things, forecheck/backcheck, make up for their lack of physical tools, and retrieve the puck (like a Burrows/Hansen type) has now begun to far outweigh the importance of offensive-zone chemistry. And Virtanen is more naturally effective at that than anybody else on the team.
