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Originally Posted by vanisleflamesfan
He has almost no value right now. What is the value of an AHL third liner? They can be had for a dime a dozen.
But can we all collectively agree to get over this idea that Sven is where he is because of "the awesome Burke devaluations"? Sven was not where he needed to be and Burke called him out. Did Burke make him a weak positional player? Did Burke make his strength not at an NHL level? Did Burke make his skating sub-par? No. Why can't a GM call out a player who at one time had a very high upside, who has not been developing properly? Because it will hurt the poor little baby's feelings? Bah... this is an NHL player we are talking about, not a Pee-Wee player.
And furthermore, Sven is exactly where he should have been two years ago... in the AHL. If the Flames had kept him there to develop properly for a (full) year or two... maybe he would be hitting the NHL this year full of skill and confidence. It is the same story with Backlund. Perhaps if Backlund had been able to develop for a full year or two in the AHL, it wouldn't have taken him this long to become the player that we always hoped he could be. I just don't get why people are so scared to see our prospects playing in the AHL. That is what it is there for, it is a development league.
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I'm not saying what your saying is wrong, but hindsight is 20/20.
It's easy to look back at something and say "This is what should've happened, yada, yada.
But if you think about it... Who KNOWS what could've happened if they (Backlund, Baertschi) were in the AHL longer.
The coaches and management determined they were NHL ready. And it's not like they were completely wrong. Sven has nearly .5 PPG in the NHL as a 21 year old. Backlund is doing AWESOME now. And as long as Backlund is doing awesome now, and hopefully the future, IMO you can't really say AHL time would've helped him.