[Updated-Report] Canucks place Sven Baertschi on Waivers

[canuck73_3]

16 minutes ago, VancouverHabitant said:

Loui has been sat in favour of better players and prospects.  Sven was not better then Loui and I have nothing against Sven.  I was genuinely afraid that Sven would get concussed every time that he would go into a corner with an opposing player.  

Baertschi isn't that fragile, it wasn't routine hits that concussed him they were targeted headshots. He's shown zero signs of clean physical play affecting him this season in Vancouver or Utica.
 

The extended time off last year looks to have really helped him health wise while unfortunately for him pushed him out of the lineup as well.  

[the grinder]

44 minutes ago, mll said:

I doubt it bothers anyone in Utica.  They know he wants to get back to the NHL.  He has said it since he got demoted but insisted that as long as he is down there he will do all his possible to help the prospects and be a good role model.  He's not whining or sulking at all.  

his agent opened up his mouth  whining about being wanted to be traded lol,   it may not bother anyone in Utica but it might anger the gm in Vancouver  ,  when is the last time you heard a agent open up their mouth and next day the player is on waivers ,  rarely  , just saying baer's agent  just screwed up and I doubt JB wants baer or his agent anywhere near the team now  or he is going get the loui treatment in Utica  practice and pressbox  

[ey40]

13 minutes ago, the grinder said:

his agent opened up his mouth  whining about being wanted to be traded lol,   it may not bother anyone in Utica but it might anger the gm in Vancouver  ,  when is the last time you heard a agent open up their mouth and next day the player is on waivers ,  rarely  , just saying baer's agent  just screwed up and I doubt JB wants baer or his agent anywhere near the team now  or he is going get the loui treatment in Utica  practice and pressbox  

I think it is more than no taker on Sven than Benning getting pissed off and put Sven on waiver. In other words Benning is doing Sven and his agent a favor hoping some teams will give Sven a chance, even that means Benning will get nothing in return.

Edited December 15, 2019 by ey40

[the grinder]

1 hour ago, Provost said:

They are a absolutely losing credibility about their mantra of earning roster spots by merit and treating players fairly.

 

Do you really think other guys on the fringe aren’t looking at it and saying it is bull$&!# that they are in the minors instead of Eriksson.  They know exactly who is in their way.

lol  didn't gaudette earn his spot ? motte earned his spot .schaller earned his spot . leivo earned his spot  , so loui has a spot  on the roster is he playing regularly? no  he has played 17 games . who is loui holding back in the ahl ?  no one really   unless you mean baer and goldy   who both cleared waivers   ps  isn't loui being treated fair ?  

Edited December 15, 2019 by the grinder

[cuporbust]

On 12/14/2019 at 8:30 AM, Ossi Vaananen said:

Teams are just jumping at a $3.4m AHLer. Didn't we try to trade him prior to waiving him? 

 

I guess the agent is trying to force Jim's hand. I doubt there is anything out there, but one can hope for a pick. 

He has been a 20 goal scorrer over 82 games averaged playing in the nhl. Those are not the numbers of a career ahl r

[the grinder]

7 minutes ago, ey40 said:

I think it is more than no taker on Sven than Benning getting pissed off and put Sven on waiver. In other words Benning is doing Sven and his agent a favor hoping some teams will give Sven a chance, even that means Benning will get nothing in return.

, You don't think benning would want to trade him asap to free cap space and gain roster space , JB doesn't need some agent  to be captain obvious .

[mll]

1 minute ago, the grinder said:

, You don't think benning would want to trade him asap to free cap space and gain roster space , JB doesn't need some agent  to be captain obvious .

By clearing waivers Benning will also realise that he will need to retain to move him.  It's cheaper than a buyout.  The buyout is 1.77M followed by 800K while even retaining up to 50% would be less.  Doubt they want his buried cap hit another season - it's 2.3M.  

[theo5789]

1 minute ago, the grinder said:

, You don't think benning would want to trade him asap to free cap space and gain roster space , JB doesn't need some agent  to be captain obvious .

It seems like the agent must've felt like Benning isn't doing enough to move his client. Fair enough, but sounds like Benning has indeed been trying and there just hasn't been any takers. Benning has insisted that he doesn't want to give up assets to move a player and likely doesn't want to retain cap a then it wouldn't be enough cap savings. The agent may feel like we are asking too much in return and this is a demonstration that he can be had for free for a second time as we want nothing other than to give him an opportunity back in the NHL should a team choose to give him that chance and that we gain his cap space. Should he clear again, then there's no excuse as no team wanted him (possibly only because of his salary, in which case he needs to suck it up or he can terminate his contract). There's no more excuse of a team juggling their lineup in the offseason and teams have a better idea of what they need and holes to fill at this point. I hope for Sven's sake and ours that a team plucks him up, but this is a power move to show that potentially no team wants him even for free to put his agent in his place.

[the grinder]

5 minutes ago, theo5789 said:

It seems like the agent must've felt like Benning isn't doing enough to move his client. Fair enough, but sounds like Benning has indeed been trying and there just hasn't been any takers. Benning has insisted that he doesn't want to give up assets to move a player and likely doesn't want to retain cap a then it wouldn't be enough cap savings. The agent may feel like we are asking too much in return and this is a demonstration that he can be had for free for a second time as we want nothing other than to give him an opportunity back in the NHL should a team choose to give him that chance and that we gain his cap space. Should he clear again, then there's no excuse as no team wanted him (possibly only because of his salary, in which case he needs to suck it up or he can terminate his contract). There's no more excuse of a team juggling their lineup in the offseason and teams have a better idea of what they need and holes to fill at this point. I hope for Sven's sake and ours that a team plucks him up, but this is a power move to show that potentially no team wants him even for free to put his agent in his place.

yep pretty much  

[Ossi Vaananen]

24 minutes ago, cuporbust said:

He has been a 20 goal scorrer over 82 games averaged playing in the nhl. Those are not the numbers of a career ahl r

Ya, teams just lining up to acquire him. We sure saved them some time by waiving him. 

[Kanukfanatic]

I don't mind Baer and I thank him for being a Canuck when the cupboards were bare and we could barely ice an NHL calibre line up.

 

However, now that we do have good actual NHL players I am totally fine with JB moving on from Baer. Baer has some skill but is simply too soft to fit in the line up that JB envisions this team having.

 

I am totally on board with that because I have hated the soft line ups we have been icing for years. It gets old real quick watching my team get beat up all the time. Baer simply does not fit this team any longer.

 

Maybe Edmonton will pick him up off waivers. Hell, they already have gagner and granlund lol.

[the grinder]

8 minutes ago, mll said:

By clearing waivers Benning will also realise that he will need to retain to move him.  It's cheaper than a buyout.  The buyout is 1.77M followed by 800K while even retaining up to 50% would be less.  Doubt they want his buried cap hit another season - it's 2.3M.  

im sure benning realizes that  , and has offered that   

[coastal.view]

31 minutes ago, cuporbust said:

He has been a 20 goal scorrer over 82 games averaged playing in the nhl. Those are not the numbers of a career ahl r

mmm. are you speaking of the baer before his last concussion

or the baer since that time

the later baer seems to a bit of a lesser player

he appears to be still struggling with his game

 

[mll]

1 minute ago, Ossi Vaananen said:

Ya, teams just lining up to acquire him. We sure saved them some time by waiving him. 

He went to hell last year.  He disclosed how bad it was - dealing with anxiety, body pain, loss of vision etc.  It wasn't just a headache - it affected his personality too and he started overly worrying about everything.  He said he went to a very dark place.  That's not really something a lot of teams want to deal with.  It seriously derailed his career and it feels a bit unfair to now just dismiss his past production.  

[HockeyHarry]

I was also thinking Baer as a Oilers fit....but not sure the cap room.

 

Hope he finds a home....seems like a good guy.

[coastal.view]

6 minutes ago, HockeyHarry said:

I was also thinking Baer as a Oilers fit....but not sure the cap room.

 

Hope he finds a home....seems like a good guy.

what if we took gagner back for him?

[Ossi Vaananen]

9 minutes ago, mll said:

He went to hell last year.  He disclosed how bad it was - dealing with anxiety, body pain, loss of vision etc.  It wasn't just a headache - it affected his personality too and he started overly worrying about everything.  He said he went to a very dark place.  That's not really something a lot of teams want to deal with.  It seriously derailed his career and it feels a bit unfair to now just dismiss his past production.  

Ya, i'm not even touching on the outside-of-hockey stuff. Great, he's a young father, and too bad he had a concussion. There, covered.

Even prior to last year he never had a full season.

[ItsAllOursBoys]

1 minute ago, coastal.view said:

what if we took gagner back for him?

[Me_]

2 hours ago, cuporbust said:

He has been a 20 goal scorrer over 82 games averaged playing in the nhl. Those are not the numbers of a career ahl r

Except it takes Bärtschi two seasons to play 82 games...

[JamesB]

2 hours ago, VancouverHabitant said:

Okay, now imagine if we didn't have Baer in those years?  We would be setting league records for the most atrocious team in the history of the NHL.  We needed those placeholders to at least lose with dignity.  I think that it mattered because we still have guys here (Horvat, Edler, etc) whereas those guys might've bolted or refused to resign if we were icing an ECHL lineup + Sedins every night. 

 

2 hours ago, canuck73_3 said:

Baer’s wife’s family is from Oregon and he lives in Oregon in the off season I really doubt he goes to Europe. 
 

Also he was part of the group of placeholderS as the plan was to rebuild but remain competitive which for the last 3 to 4 years we did even with the injuries that piled up.
 

Competitive in the sense we weren't getting blown out on a nightly basis like the god awful Oilers build model. Baertschi was a good part of that and the current top 9 forwards have now surpassed him as was the way the plan was drawn up.. 

I understand this argument and I agree that it is a reasonable argument. It is pretty much what Linden said in those early years of the Benning regime. 

 

I also agree that the Canucks would have been even worse if Benning had not tried various stopgap measures. The team would have been even worse without Baer, without Miller, etc.

 

But my preference would have been for a quick crash and fast recovery. And, given the nature of the NHL, it is usually possible to avoid lopsided scores by playing a defensive game and it is usually not hard to find guys who can play good enough defensive hockey to avoid embarrassment. You will still lose in the short run, but you won't be embarrassed. Also, Horvat could not leave voluntarily during those years and I don't Edler would ever have wanted to leave. 

 

Anyway, I am not claiming that my preferred strategy is "right".  But I would have felt better after a quick crash and then a good rebuild instead of watching the team sink or wallow as bottom feeders for a few years. 

 

I do think the team is on the upswing now, although I am starting to have doubts about Green. But if the team wins a Stanley Cup sometime in the next five or six years, I won't care about the trajectory that got us there.