Quote:
Originally Posted by T@T
Point is he shouldn't be there.
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Why shouldn't Baertschi be in the NHL?
What is wrong with forcing a player who literally appears to be 'not ready' go back down to a development league for seasoning and development?
I look at the NHL career as an arc. At the start, all players have to meet some sort of a 'threshold' mark whereby they aren't 'ruined' by playing in the NHL, and have the ability to improve. Over the seasons, they continue to improve until they hit that peak and start plateauing out somewhat for 'x' amount of seasons, and then gradually (or sometimes quickly in some cases) come back down the arc until the fall below that certain threshold of competency.
Baertschi didn't have it. Colborne didn't have it for the first 8-10 games, but he certainly has it now. Baertschi had his chance and only showed himself to be an NHL-capable player for short stretches. He looked bad at development camp, and he hasn't looked consistently good all year. Was this the Baertschi you were expecting? It was not the Calder candidate I was expecting.
What is really wrong with sending him back down for seasoning? Do you really believe Hartley doesn't like rookies? Monahan, Colborne, Backlund, Brodie, Russel, Bouma - these are all guys that represent rookies and/or youth on the team, and they have all been noticeably improving. Baertschi wasn't. When a rookie is not improving, he should be sent down to avoid 'ruining' the player.
What is wrong with making him earn it? Why do Granlund, Reinhart and Knight all look much better and consistent than Baertschi? Is it fair for them to see Baertschi on the Flames, while they are toiling away in the AHL even though they are ahead at this point? Wouldn't this lead to problems in the mindsets of the other prospects?
Make Baertschi earn it. I have no doubt he will, and I am positive it will only make him a better and more effective player because of it. I can't see how this is 'hurting' him. If it is hurting him, then the only reason is that he has entitlement/arrogance character issues, and the organization should part ways with him in a trade then. I don't think that is what is going on here, and I don't think Sven will get traded at all. He just needs more development time than what most people assumed.
Why would Sven feel he was being mistreated? Because he wasn't treated like the entitled brats up north and catered to in every way? That is NOT how you breed good hockey players. You make them earn their stripes, and Baertschi just hasn't been doing so. I am 100% confident he will, however, as Drury has stated on the Heat forum, he looks like he is turning it around.