[proposal] - If Sven Baertschi makes the team........

[Patel Bure]

[proposal] - If Sven Baertschi makes the team........

 

Although Baertschi's odds of making the team isn't high, he will be given a legitimate shot according to Benning.  My questions are as follows if the improbable occurs:

 

1) What would the lines look like if Baertschi made it in?

 

2) Which player(s) would be sent to the minors if Baertschi made the team?   

 

In answering my own question, I believe Roussel would be the odd man out.  Eriksson would stay due to his stellar defensive player.  

 

Although Tanner Pearson has trade value, the Canucks would sorely miss his stellar two way play.    

 

If Baertschi made the team, I'd be inclined to do the following:

 

Miller-Pettersson-Boeser

Baertschi-Horvat-Virtanen (with no Eriksson here, this line can take more offensive risks and not be confined into a shut down role....which ultimately maximizes Horvat).

Pearson-Sutter-Eriksson (the new shut down line)

Motte-Beagle-MacEwen

 

Gaudette (rotates 50/50 with Sutter as part of a load management strategy for Sutter).   Roussel to Utica (would doing all of this make us cap compliant?).  

 

Edler-Schmidt

Hughes-Myers  (with Hughes and Schmidt on separate pairings, both defensive pairings can be maximized offensively since Eriksson wouldn't be on the Top 6).

Juolevi-Hamonic

 

Demko 

Holtby 

 

Baertschi-Horvat-Virtanen does interest me.   Although it was a small sample size, these guys had a tremendous game together in pre-season back in 2015.  Yes, that was 6 years ago, but those guys had some excellent chemistry and I was quite surprised that Willie Desjardins didn't give those guys some more looks.  In the unlikely event that Baertschi made the team, I'd be highly interested in giving this line another look

Edited January 5, 2021 by DarkIndianRises

[King Heffy]

No way a heart and soul guy like Rooster sits for a lazy floater like LE.  Eriksson goes to Utica's press box where he belongs even if Baer doesn't make the team.

[Patel Bure]

42 minutes ago, King Heffy said:

No way a heart and soul guy like Rooster sits for a lazy floater like LE.  Eriksson goes to Utica's press box where he belongs even if Baer doesn't make the team.

If we get the Roussel from 2018-2019, then I’m absolutely on board with this.  My problem with Roussel this past year was that he was slow, not very good defensively, and took dumb penalties.  Yes, he stuck up for guys, but we also saw how he fared when going up against the toughest guys in the league (ie Reaves clowning Roussel, etc.).

 

While Eriksson definitely looks passive out there and has completely lost his offensive ability, his defensive game is still quite strong and he does manage to win a lot of puck battles with smart positioning.   There’s a reason why the Pearson-Horvat-Eriksson line was so good for us this past year.  
 

But again - let’s not lose focus of this thread.

 

If Baertschi proves worthy of making the team, would there be a benefit in playing Baertschi on the top 6 on a line with Horvat and Virtanen?   
 

(if we went Roussel over Eriksson)
 

Miller-Pettersson-Boeser

Baertschi-Horvat-Virtanen

Pearson-Sutter-Motte

Roussel-Beagle-MacEwen

Gaudette (50/50 with Sutter as part of a load management strategy for Sutter)

 

That should give the Canucks two half decent scoring lines while also giving the Canucks a fairly tenacious bottom 6.   My only issue with the above is that Pearson would be hard pressed to score goals with Sutter or Beagle as the center.  Gaudette’s presence under this hypothetical might help, but would the line be good enough defensively?

Edited January 6, 2021 by DarkIndianRises

[Lancaster]

Baertschi can play on all lines. 

He has good chemistry with Bo, Boeser, Gaudette and reliable defensively (although his body can't play rough & tumble).  

 

Pearson tends to be very streaky.... have Baertschi as an insurance policy if he gets ice cold or need a spark.  

 

Let JV know that his tenure on the top-6 is conditional, should he not play 100%, swap him out with Sven.  

[Ghostsof1915]

Don't be surprised if Baer and Loui are playing in the AHL. 

Baer because his body has taken a beating.

Loui because he seems to not really give a damn. 

 

[Nuxfanabroad]

Hopefully we do get a resurgence from Baer.

 

With the Div set-up & nasty, intensifying rivalries, there will likely be a fair share of injuries for most teams. We might need all the extra fwds as the season goes deeper & heavier.

[-AJ-]

Few things would make me happier than a comeback form Baer. He's a player I've always defended and felt was underrated and I still feel that way. I hope he will be given a legitimate chance.

[Bell]

If Baertschi makes the team?  We don't make the playoffs.  He's a good guy but he is done.

[Phil_314]

1 hour ago, DarkIndianRises said:

Miller-Pettersson-Boeser

Baertschi-Horvat-Virtanen

Pearson-Sutter-Motte

Roussel-Beagle-MacEwen

Gaudette (50/50 with Sutter as part of a load management strategy for Sutter)

The 2nd line looks good on paper, and it could work (Bo and Jake have the size to protect him a bit if the going gets rough).
For the 3rd line I'd be down to put Gaudette on the RW and have any of Motte/ Pearson/ Roussel win the LW.  It'd be great to not just be chip and chase in the bottom 6 and I think Adam could provide that needed skill without being exposed as a vulnerability.  

[wildcam]

Send Erickson to minors and Baertschi could be a surprise...

Gaudette has way more offence then Sutter? If anything have Sutter on Gaudette's wing....

 

1.Miller  Petey  Boeser

2.Pearson  Horvat  Virtanen ------ Baertschi,  Hoglander

3. Russel Gaudette Sutter -----  Baertschi -Motte

4. MacEwen  Hawryluk - Motte  ---(  Bailey  - Beagle ) Hawryluk plays with lots of energy,,, Bailey 6'4, could also surprise people..

 

Poor Gaudette, would like to see more talent  on his wing......Talk Gaudette could play wing? Top 6 beside Horvat?

Lots of different combinations..We will know very soon.....January 13th is coming very fast..

Edited January 6, 2021 by wildcam

[EdgarM]

The only reason these guys(Baertchi/Ericksson) are on this team is because they are under contract and they are untradeable assets, plain and simple. 

[Rabbit]

Agreed. If Baer and Loui make the line-up this season, we could not play in playoff.

[-AJ-]

2 hours ago, EdgarM said:

The only reason these guys(Baertchi/Ericksson) are on this team is because they are under contract and they are untradeable assets, plain and simple. 

They're different cases. Eriksson has seen his game fall off dramatically since his earlier days. Baertschi has maintained his level of play consistently, but ran into injury problems. Baertschi's game never fell off and there's no clear indication based on his level of play that he's not an NHL-calibre player right now.

[ImConfused]

9 hours ago, DarkIndianRises said:

[proposal] - If Sven Baertschi makes the team........

 

Although Baertschi's odds of making the team isn't high

[Fanuck]

15 hours ago, DarkIndianRises said:

  Eriksson would stay due to his stellar defensive player

There's this false narrative that while Loui's offensive skill-set has fallen off a cliff he's some kind of a Selke-level player still which will keep him on the roster which I don't agree with.  At best I'd call him a reliable forward in his own end but to call him 'stellar' is, well....perhaps you jest.  

 

Nevertheless it's just a matter of time until his lack of interest follows his other skills and doesn't show up anymore making his very limited contributions to the team completely expendable. 

[DownUndaCanuck]

Baertschi gets this chance just about every pre-season and gets out-competed by younger guys but apparently he's putting in a good showing this year. He's had some big offensive success with the squad, I remember him having some great chemistry with Horvat a while ago. If we could slot in alongside Horvat and Pearson and reclaim that offence, we've got a really solid top-6 and an even stronger bottom-6 offensively. I think he scored something like 9 goals in 20-something games which is pretty good considering he was limited with ice-time.

 

Let's just hope for the team's sake that he comes with a lot of energy and defensive awareness, because Horvat's linemate spot is up for grabs. If he can score at a 20+ goal pace, we'll be a real force to deal with, with Gaudette and Virtanen in our bottom-6 scoring at 40-point paces.

[Patel Bure]

3 hours ago, Fanuck said:

There's this false narrative that while Loui's offensive skill-set has fallen off a cliff he's some kind of a Selke-level player still which will keep him on the roster which I don't agree with.  At best I'd call him a reliable forward in his own end but to call him 'stellar' is, well....perhaps you jest.  

 

Nevertheless it's just a matter of time until his lack of interest follows his other skills and doesn't show up anymore making his very limited contributions to the team completely expendable. 

While Eriksson definitely isn’t “selke like” in his defensive play, he is really good.  Lots of smart high percentage plays and he rarely makes mistakes.  That’s one of the biggest reasons why Green hasn’t foresaken the Pearson-Horvat-Eriksson line.   
 

As far as Roussel goes, like I said - he easily has a spot on my team if the 2018-2019 version of him shows up.  If the Roussel that we saw from these past playoffs shows up however, then I might have an issue. 
 

Yes - the guy tries to set the tone and attempts to play with passion - I love all that  - but he had an atrocious error filled playoffs and was a liability for us.   His antics with Reaves was an embarrassment.

Edited January 6, 2021 by DarkIndianRises

[-DLC-]

17 minutes ago, DarkIndianRises said:

While Eriksson definitely isn’t “selke like” in his defensive play, he is really good.  Lots of smart high percentage plays and he rarely makes mistakes.  That’s one of the biggest reasons why Green hasn’t foresaken the Pearson-Horvat-Eriksson line.   
 

As far as Roussel goes, like I said - he easily has a spot on my team if the 2018-2019 version of him shows up.  If the Roussel that we saw from these past playoffs shows up however, then I might have an issue. 
 

Yes - the guy tries to set the tone and attempts to play with passion - I love all that  - but he had an atrocious error filled playoffs and was a liability for us.   His antics with Reaves was an embarrassment.

He is not "really good".  He's sporadic and has a few "really good" moments and some not so good.   It's not about "not making mistakes", it's about making an impact.  

 

I want a team that's hard to play against and Roussel can really throw a team off and shake things up.  Loui's more like a safety net (with holes in it).

 

Risks come with errors and you have to look at the big picture and what's happening in a game.  If a team's behind, they may make more errors as they try to be creative and take more chances.  I do think Rooster has to rein it in a bit in relation to the level of passion and harnessing that a bit better.  He sometimes takes the bait when it's more effective not to.  But Loui being "unnoticeable" used to be ok for me because he did do some things right.  But every single player is important and he's worn out his best before date.

 

Reaves was an embarrassment...that's what people will remember about his trying to goad players.  He was an absolute ass out there.  Sure, Rooster bit...but I'm ok with him highlighting what an idiot Reaves was.

 

[EdgarM]

13 hours ago, -AJ- said:

They're different cases. Eriksson has seen his game fall off dramatically since his earlier days. Baertschi has maintained his level of play consistently, but ran into injury problems. Baertschi's game never fell off and there's no clear indication based on his level of play that he's not an NHL-calibre player right now.

Oh!.... is that why he played the entire year last year in the minors and was never called up?  I see. 

[Patel Bure]

1 hour ago, debluvscanucks said:

He is not "really good".  He's sporadic and has a few "really good" moments and some not so good.   It's not about "not making mistakes", it's about making an impact.  

 

I want a team that's hard to play against and Roussel can really throw a team off and shake things up.  Loui's more like a safety net (with holes in it).

 

Risks come with errors and you have to look at the big picture and what's happening in a game.  If a team's behind, they may make more errors as they try to be creative and take more chances.  I do think Rooster has to rein it in a bit in relation to the level of passion and harnessing that a bit better.  He sometimes takes the bait when it's more effective not to.  But Loui being "unnoticeable" used to be ok for me because he did do some things right.  But every single player is important and he's worn out his best before date.

 

Reaves was an embarrassment...that's what people will remember about his trying to goad players.  He was an absolute ass out there.  Sure, Rooster bit...but I'm ok with him highlighting what an idiot Reaves was.

 

1) Agreed about Reaves but he made Roussel to look like an even bigger idiot.

 

2) Agreed with your assessment on risk/reward, passion, etc.   Like I said - if we see the Roussel from 2018-2019, then he absolutely blows Eriksson out of the waters in my opinion.   I just wasn't a fan of Roussel's work this past season (although in his defense, entering mid season without having had a training camp is an extremely difficult thing to do).    

 

If Baertschi proves worthy of making the team, and IF Roussel comes to camp and looks like his 2018-2019 self, then I'm absolutely ok with the following:

 

Miller-Pettersson-Boeser

Baertschi-Horvat-Virtanen

Pearson-Sutter-MacEwen

Roussel-Beagle-Motte

 

Gaudette (50-50 with Sutter as part of a load management strategy for Sutter).

 

Edler-Schmidt

Hughes-Myers

Juolevi-Hamonic  (although from the looks of things, Greener might elect to go with Juolevi-Myers).

 

Demko (50/50 until one of the goalies proves worthy of a heavier load).

Holtby