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Originally Posted by monkeyman
Part of the reason Sven wanted out was because of the way he was treated by management. Management created that whole mess and then had to act to minimize the damage. Say what you want about Sven, maybe he needed to be coddled, but that's managements job to recognize the make up of the player and work with it, not against it, destroying his confidence and resolve along the way...
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There is a lot of history revision when it comes to Sven Baertschi. First off, Burke and the Flames were absolutely right in their assessment of Baertschi, who also struggled mightily once traded to the Canucks. They did not "ruin" him or set him back—he did all that on his own, and it ultimately came down to his own decision to fix his game by doing what the coaches from BOTH organizations had been telling him all along. He gave an interview either last year or the year before in which he talks about turning around his game and becoming a harder player on the puck and without the puck—he credits precisely the change Flames coaches wanted to see for his moderate NHL success.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 868904
He was never that dynamic. People always get enamoured with junior stats. His linemate Ty Rattie put up a ton of points too, look what he's doing. I watched him a lot that year in Portland and was never that impressed. He lacked footspeed. At development camp, Gaudreau and Granlund were always more impressive than Sven. The only time you noticed Sven was when he cross checked Tim Harrison in the face in retaliation for a hit or when he was pouting about having to attend development camp at all cause he thought he was too good for it.
During his brief emergency call up, he scored a couple of garbage goals, caught a break on a bad giveaway.
I don't think the Flames ruined him at all; his mental make up and character was questionable from the start.
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Second, I also think this undersells Baertschi's early potential. He looked every bit a future top line forward in his draft +1/2 seasons. He had a real good stretch at the end of 2012–13; things looked very positive for him heading into the next year. I think when evaluating Beartschi we cannot underestimate the effect that multiple, serious concussions had on his development between 2012–14, and I believe these played a considerable role in hampering his offensive effectiveness while he was still trying to find his way as a young professional.