Quote:
Originally Posted by Enoch Root
I have been critical of the way they have handled Baertschi too, but you are putting him before the team here and that is just about the worst thing you can do with a 20 year old kid.
Have the Flames handled him well this year? No, not in my opinion. But he'll be fine. I think the fan firestorm is really about a much bigger problem: the reason we are scrutinizing each move, each shift, each linemate that they throw at him is because HE IS THE ONLY PROSPECT THE TEAM HAS.
Baertschi will be fine and I am glad he is out of town because things are only going to get uglier here for the rest of this season.
The Flames need to start focusing on getting some other players for Baertschi to play with (which will also take some of the heat/pressure off of him)
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Being patient with a prospect on the third line for the first 20-games or so isn't putting him ahead of the team. It isn't like he wasn't playing at an NHL level or was a major problem out there.
I don't have a problem with him going down. But I do have a problem with him getting benched in the third despite good play, not getting awarded with PP time on games where he has earned it, finding himself on the fourth line, etc.
It doesn't feel like Baertschi was really put in a position to succeed. In large part because the Flames were desperate to get wins and didn't worry about the impact on our best prospect.
He is down now, and that is probably a good thing. But for an organization that is should be thinking forward they don't seem to have the development of our best (and as you say only) prospect as a very high priority.