The bottom line is that Baertschi has not played well enough to be promoted onto the top 2 lines. I find he is just not strong enough on the puck and needs some more mass before he can be an effective player. He is still not strong enough defensively (which is understandable given its his first full NHL season) and I don't think the coaching staff is comfortable in putting him out there against the top lines of the opposition.
He WAS on a skilled line last game (as all of CP were clamoring for) with Hudler and Cervenka, and did not make that much of an impact, so I don't get this griping about Hartley. Comeau was also demoted back to the 4th line - also something people were clamoring for.
One thing I do agree with is why is he not on the PP? That would be the one instance where he can use his talent to gain some much needed confidence. I didn't like how we kept rolling predominantly 2 lines of PP during our long 5 min and 4 min powerplays. It probably would have been beneficial to run a 3rd PP line of Stajan Baertschi and Cervenka.
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