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Originally Posted by Textcritic
So, are you suggesting that you expect Baertschi's potential to be comparable to Backlund's? I'm not entirely sure what you mean by this, and I think you need to elaborate.
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I think when Bartschi comes up, he'll be close to what we got quality wise out of Backlund, not style of play. What my intent was to say is to not expect a 45-55 point scorer...expect a player who was as good as Backlund in his 1st year here (but plays more of a sniper's game, not a two-way playmaker).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Textcritic
Furthermore, I am not clear on how you draw this comparable between a second-year WHL player and a player who played his whole juniour career in Tier-2 SEL, with only a brief stint in Canadian Juniour. Please elaborate.
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I keep referring to Backlund as he's been our most recent graduate. I think a player that would much better as reference is Jordan Eberle. He had similar point totals in his last year as Bartschi had this year. Between the two, I think Eberle has made a smoother jump than Bartschi will, so my expectations are a little tapered to that end. Not to mention, Eberle got 1st line time, whereas I don't think Bartschi will.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Textcritic
At present, I am cautiously optimistic that Baertschi's ceiling is and always has been a lot higher than Backlund's. I really like Backlund, but he lacks the sorts of intangibles in his game that have many projecting Baertschi to be a star.
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Agreed. Bartschi has a much higher scoring ceiling and probably a higher one over all. Backlund's abilities line him a lot like Langkow in style of play and will probably end up close to that as a maximum.