BREAKING: Sven Baertschi dealt to the Vancouver Canucks

CAL appears to have traded Baertschi. No league trade call yet.

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) March 2, 2015

Baertschi to VAN for a second-rounder

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) March 2, 2015

EDIT: A few tweets coming around on Twitter that Rob Kerr from Sportsnet 960 that Sven wanted out and the team wanted to accommodate his wishes. So with this in perspective, the deal makes a bit more sense.

“We had conversations and we could never really find a solution for me.” – Baertschi when asked by @MattSekeres if he requested a trade.

— Thomas Drance (@ThomasDrance) March 2, 2015

The Flames stayed relatively quiet today between trolling fans with the Dennis Wideman situation and with Curtis Glencross being dealt to the Capitals the day prior. That is until moments ago Elliotte Friedman confirmed that Sven was dealt to the Canucks for a 2015 second round pick.

Baertschi struggled with consistency at the NHL level after a great five game stint in 2011-12 scoring three goals in five games. The following season, he managed to put up three goals and seven assists in 20 games for the club. Within that season he had a great season in Abbotsford putting up 26 points in 32 games for the Heat.

Much of last season and this season has been surrounding his inconsistencies at the professional level and the heat from Brian Burke about his holes in his game. That said, in 2013-14 with the Abbotsford Heat he would put up a modest 29 points in 41 games with the club. Going into this season, it was more of a make or break situation for the young Swiss forward.

His training camp wasn't the strongest from memory but he did manage to suit up for 15 games this season in a primarily bottom-six role putting up four assists. Sent down to Adirondack, he seemingly appeared to find his game again putting up 25 points in 36 games.

What to make of this?

Well, we're getting a second round pick in a draft that might be regarded as a deep one. Stocking up on picks is necessary for the rebuild OR packaging out to gain assets. With the Glencross deal and now this one, it gives the Flames a total of three second-round picks for the draft in June.
At this point it's a lateral move. If it hurts the team in the future, I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

The team is seemingly a bubble team again in resemblance to where they were in the Iginla era. They sit in the final playoff spot thanks to the Kings loss yesterday and are suffering from a crucial injury to captain Mark Giordano. Who knows what happens now between tomorrow night’s game and the end of the season.

What Vancouver is getting?

A former first round pick drafted in 2011 (13th overall) who might become a scoring winger in the NHL. At least that's what I think he is still. The last few years of his development have been a roller coaster of ups and downs. Of expectations inherently too high set by fans and media and Sven obviously not meeting those expectations.

I still think he can play in the NHL. Maybe a fresh start is honestly what he needed all along and he'll find his game. Or maybe he'll only ever amount to AHL level talent and go back to Europe. He's an RFA at the end of the season and it would be sensible that if he performs well for Utica (the Canucks' AHL affiliate) he could earn a contract.

That said, this one hurts. He was beloved by the fans and everyone just wants him to succeed in some capacity.

by Mike Pfeil