Quote:
Originally Posted by blankall
Don't agree on the Baertschi stuff. Baertschi ran himself out of town. He'll always be a player with poor defensive play that hovers around .5 PPG. He'll have a hot streak here or there, but he would never have had a spot in Calgary.
He's not good enough for the first line. Too defensively irresponsible for the the second line. He doesn't succeed in a bottom 6 role.
Maybe the Flames could have showcased him and got a slightly better package back, but 25 year old Baertschi is not some superstar we missed out on. I wouldn't be surprised to see him back in Europe in a couple of years. He's realistically one bad season away from that.
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Don't really want to turn this thread into a Sven debate but I don't think you've been watching him over the last couple of years if you believe he is a poor defensive player. He definitely holds his own in two way play.
Just looking at his +/- compared to others on his team over the last couple of seasons paints that picture. Last year he was -6. The twins were -19 and -27 respectively. Granlund was -19. Brandon Sutter was -20.
This year he is +1 so far. Only Bo Horvat has a better rating among forwards at +5. The Sedins are -10. Granlund is -10. Vanek is -14. Gagner is -15.
Since when is .5 PPG is a bad thing? Especially at his price tag of $1.85M. Last year he had 18 goals. That would have tied him with Johnny for 3rd on the Flames in four less games than Gaudreau played.
I know many Flames fans don't want to admit Sven is anything good but he actually is a pretty solid player for the Canucks now.