Quote:
Originally Posted by Cali Flames Fan
This thread is a great example of how badly fans overrate their own team's prospects. I think if you were to poll the league about Baertschi you would get some extremely cooled responses. His stock has fallen since draft day, which is ironic considering the huge spike upward he took the first year after the draft. It's not just his numbers either, it's his stagnation in his development in so many areas of the game that are crucial to be a good NHLer.
I'm not happy about the return, but it's mostly because Baertschi has ruined his own trade value. For a player that was going to have to clear waivers next camp and be lost for nothing, this is excellent asset management.
Not writing Sven off completely, but nothing he's done at the pro level makes me think he'll be anything more than a below average scoring winger in the NHL.
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I think there's more to it than just overrating our own prospects. Sven was one of our first draft picks that gave frustrated fans a glimmer of hope that just maybe we had finally drawn an ace and that things were going to turn around.
While the rebuild is going great at the moment, for some, myself included, seeing Sven traded instead of flourishing with the team still represents the loss of a little bit of hope for the future. Imagine if he had turned the corner like we wanted and was flying with Gaudreau, Monahan, Hudler, and even Bouma. Would've been something.
That being said, the reality is we got a 2nd for an asset on the decline. Can't be upset about that. And for those concerned we traded him to a rival, look at it this way: Our rival traded us a 2nd, weakening them down the road. It's a two-way street.