Quote:
Originally Posted by Textcritic
I think this is a big part of the problem. While Baertschi is among the Flames longest tenured prospects, neither he nor his professional hockey career are actually that old. He will be 22 this year. Last season he was still eligible to win the Calder Trophy. This is likely as clear a scenario as where the "shiny new toy" syndrome applies, especially since Baertschi had an off year last year. He's still really young with tonnes of potential; it just seems like he has already been around forever.
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We'll see how this year goes, obviously, but my guess would be not too many 22 year old AHLers go onto to have significant Top 3 F NHL careers...meaning, he's not likely to reach his ceiling unless he comes to camp ready to make the Flames.
I haven't done any analysis though...it just seems to me that current impact players were securely in the NHL by 22 years of age.