I understand why people are trying to make parallels between Sven and Savard. We all had huge expectations and hopes for him. Similar analogies and arguments could also be made between Sven and other smaller-size highly skilled players like St.Lois and P.Kane. But the fact remains, while Baertschi is skilled, he is not as skilled as those guys. I've seen Sven closely without his gear; he still looks like a kid and he will be pushed around and ineffective in NHL unless he either elevates his skill level significantly to make it difficult for other players to push him around and defend against him despite his size or, if this is his maximum skill level, improves his overall on-ice work ethic and becomes an average contributing third-line player, which is exactly what Burke and Hartley want from him, I think.
|