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Do you think Virtanen and Baertschi have what it takes to be first liners?


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I'd rather see it phrased as "Do you think they will both be top 6 players!

Burrows is not a prototypical first line player, but he fits there if he's playing with the Sedins.

I think Virtanen will be able to play first line, but I also think he can be used effectively all through the lineup depending on who we are playing on any given night. If you really needed a Sh!t disturber line, you could put him on a 3rd line with Dorsett and Cassels and have some guys who were generally unpleasant to play against! All can skate and hit and capable of sticking up for themselves.

Baertschi, I see as more of a top 6 is where he needs to be to be effective. Don't think he'd work in bottom 6, long term.

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Any player can work on any line, it's just a matter of making all the lines able to outplay their competition. Long-term, hopefully that happens here. Even during the Sedin peak, our 4th line was a scrub line we had to rush off the ice.

But but... Aren't you one of the leading defeatists regarding our current 4th line? Make up your mind. You want a good 4th line but don't want to pay the money for it?

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Please tell me your version of what our current 4th line is and you'll get a response.

77 points. Tough, tenacious, skilled, hard working. It remains to be seen who will be slated in the 4C position at the start of the season but at the moment, Dorsett - Vey - Prust looks pretty darn good IMO.

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77 points. Tough, tenacious, skilled, hard working. It remains to be seen who will be slated in the 4C position at the start of the season but at the moment, Dorsett - Vey - Prust looks pretty darn good IMO.

You're not going to get 77 points out of that line here.

I think I was referring to cup contender 4th lines when I was making my comment. And having your other three lines actually be better. That would be the goal, long-term.

Last season the Horvat line was labelled the 4th line when it looked more like a 2nd line on this team. We're obviously aways away from where this team needs to be to contend for a cup.

I don't have a problem with what Dorsett and Prust provide for the time being. Namely protection. But on that note I think they make even play on seperate lines.

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Well, one of your measuring sticks is 60-70 points, but that would make them elite first line wingers in todays NHL. I'll use a more reasonable measuring stick- do they have the potential to be as good as Burrows (or any other average first line winger) is today ? Yah, I think so. But I'm not gonna bet the farm on it.

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Virtanen can play on all 4 lines. Doesn't matter where he is, he can help. Anybody who thinks he is "top-6 or bust" have never seen him lay a hit. I mean, has anybody been following him in Calgary? Do they even realize what his role is? And they are worried about his whl production... :picard:

Now as for Baertschi, he most certainly is. I feel like he could bottom out as a Matthias type player. And that's his basement IMO.

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Virtanen is Krieder 2.0

Bartchi is a future second liner with 60 point potential in my opinion.

If he inevitably scores 60pts on our 2nd line, I will be jumping for joy, because this means he's on a line with elite linemates and we have another line with players even better than that.
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Everyone here (including me) are always trying to come up with ways to find a true #1 center and #1 defensemen. Most of us agree that we have plenty of skill and some size on the wings and also have players who could be elite second line centers (Horvat and Mccann). I'm not trying to be pessimistic, but recently I've been debating whether or not we even have a future first line. What I mean by this is that is finding a number 1 center our main priority? Most people have penciled Virtanen and Baertschi as our future 1st line wingers, but the numbers they've put up in junior and the AHL isn't too impressive to me. I love the way Virtanen plays, but I'm starting to wonder if we made the wrong selection because Ehlers has a higher ceiling then Virtanen does. I know that Ehlers is small but the numbers he puts up are just too damn impressive which has led me wondering about our selection from last year. Again, I'm not trying to put our young guys down, I'm just trying to be a little realistic.

Ehlers just looks like he has a higher ceiling because he's shorter...they both have 8' ceilings....

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so you are asking, did Calgary after 4 years of working with him, give up on a future NHL first liner? Did they somehow miss the signs? Virtanen is a totally different situation. Baertschi is one year younger than Kassian. What would you say to the Montreal fans who are asking: did we get a first line player from the Canucks?

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so you are asking, did Calgary after 4 years of working with him, give up on a future NHL first liner? Did they somehow miss the signs? Virtanen is a totally different situation. Baertschi is one year younger than Kassian. What would you say to the Montreal fans who are asking: did we get a first line player from the Canucks?

Baertschi is 2 years younger and a change of scenery could make him into a first liner. You never know.

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