I can't believe people are surprised, or care, Baertschi is getting a call up. The Canucks need to evaluate him and see where he is as a player before the end of the season, same as the Flames are doing with Shore. The Canucks need to sign Baertschi to his next contract and they will need to keep him or risk losing him for nothing in waivers next fall. There is nothing but risk here for the Canucks. If he comes in and doesn't impress, then what? The Canucks have just given away a 2nd round pick for the late season promise of a player who has not shown the capacity to excel at even the AHL level.
You look at the top teams in the league right now and they have something the Flames are sorely lacking. Size and speed. Baertschi really has neither. He is a player that doesn't play any bigger than the size in your program and he doesn't have anything more than average speed. He is also very weak on the puck and loses way more puck battles than he wins, so I question how he is going to survive in the Canucks system? A team that cycles as much as vancouver needs guys that can protect the puck along the wall and take some punishment to hold onto the puck. That isn't Baertschi. I still have no idea what the Canucks saw to make them want to trade a 2nd round pick for this kid, but thank you for doing so.
On the Flames size and speed needs, this is one place where Shore is invaluable. He's big and can skate. He is something the Flames need in the lineup and an area where they can continue to improve. The thing that I liked hearing about Shore was the number of teams that called about him at the deadline. If what was talked about was true, Shore was the number one guy other teams were calling about. The writing is on the wall and every team knows what you need to succeed. You need more Shores and less Baertschis. Good on Treliving for grabbing what we need and dumping what we don't.
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