Quote:
Originally Posted by Five-hole
At left wing? Who? Ferland? Seriously debatable. Anyone else?
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I don't think that is debatable at all. Ferland's growth has been superior to that of Baertschi. The team also likes his size and willingness to play any role. The team has said as much. Sven has been hot of late, but he has the same number of goals and two more assists than Ferland in 3 more games played.
You also have to consider the number of centers we have that are left handed and how they may shakeout in the system. You have to take into consideration Granlund, Arnold, Hanowski, Agostino and Wolf as competition as well. Arnold is big and is a such a solid player you would have to think that at some point they are going to have to find a spot for him. If Baertschi were scoring more I would maybe agree with you, but when he is dead even with players scoring wise you have to start looking at e other aspects of the game and recognize his weaknesses. If the offense is similar you have to start looking at the other aspects of the game, and Sven is naturally challenged in the size department and lags behind in the defensive awareness department. So if it comes down to it, who do you go with? Especially if a player is not living up to that scoring standard expected of him?
For Sven to jump to the front of the LW queue he really needs to start scoring in the AHL, and in bunches. He needs to dominate that level, and soon. Tatar is routinely trotted out as a comparison for Baertschi, but Tatar played his last game in the AHL as a 21 year old, and after scoring 87 goals and 196 points for the Red Wings affiliate during his time in the minors. That is the same level Bartschi needs to get to. Obviously not those exact numbers but if he can hit 20 goals and 45 points this year, he'll have probably earned that top spot again. He really needs to start impressing in places that can be measured. Unless there is an advanced stat for 'swagger' that will get him noticed he's got to start filling the net.