Every season, a portion of the fan base selects a couple of Canucks players to pick on. Sometimes they deserve it, but often these criticisms take on a life of their own.

Last year, Linden Vey and Kevin Bieksa seemed to take a good portion of this type of criticism, among others. Sure they disappointed more than one would hope, but the lynch mob tended to be so blinded with 45 years of frustration that they couldn’t acknowledge when something positive happened.

Well, some of these fans got their wish: Linden Vey and Kevin Bieksa are no longer on the Canucks roster, meaning that the negative crew will have to find someone new to slog on.

Enter Sven Baertschi, Canucks nation’s newest sacrificial lamb.

Baertschi has all the hallmarks of a Canucks Twitter target: he was acquired by a new regime are a cost perceived to be fairly high; he is on the roster partially by way of his waiver status (though Linden Vey’s demotion has done its part to reduce the effectiveness of this argument); he was given a spot in the top six despite having never played more than 26 games in any given season, and has only 31 points to show for 69 games (nice) going into this season.

Perhaps most notably, Baertschi plays a predominantly quiet game. He’s not the kind of player that you notice a whole lot, but he doesn’t need to be noticed to be effective. How many times did you hear/read this reaction to his four-point game in the preseason: “He got four points? I hardly even saw him?”

Well unfortunately for Sven, he hasn’t had any four point nights so far in the regular season. He’s been quietly playing the game he is good at, and this has inspired a certain reaction from Canuck fans and/or media members.

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Just wondering, did Sven Baertschi make the trip to California? #Invisible — JAY JANOWER (@DOUBLEJGLOBALBC) October 13, 2015

Even the Province’s Jason Botchford, lord of Canucks Twitter, made note of the question of Baertschi’s whereabouts in his admittedly wonderful post-game Provies feature on Tuesday.





Like I said, these things have a tendency to take on a life of their own, and when a couple of heavy hitters put these ideas out there, they tend to spread like wildfire. Combine this with Willie Desjardins’ confusing decision to both demote and bench Baertschi in the L.A. game; leading to a little bit of good ol’ confirmation bias – and some are suggesting that it’s time for Baertschi to come out of the lineup.

So let’s look at this a little bit closer and try to find what Baertschi’s been up to. Has he really been invisible?

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Has Baertschi Been Invisible?

No, no he hasn’t. Honestly, this narrative is a little bit baffling. I’m not the only one who thinks so. Daniel Wagner of Pass It To Bulis summed it up very well:

Saw a bunch of people complaining Baertschi was invisible. Maybe you’re just blind? Do you often run into walls you didn’t know were there? — Daniel Wagner (@ADanielWagner) October 13, 2015

I’m not sure what everyone else’s definition of invisible is, but I certainly don’t think Baertschi fits the criteria. If he never manages to touch the puck all night, then I could see where this sort of criticism would come from. But that simply isn’t the case. If you haven’t been hearing the broadcast team calling Baertschi’s name 10 to 15 times per game, then perhaps you haven’t been paying attention?

Let’s see what Baertschi has accomplished so far in four games.

Production

Baertschi has but a single assist to show for four games of work so far, a fact which may be contributing to his perceived lack of effectiveness. The assist in question was on the powerplay, a shot that created a rebound for Bo Horvat’s beauty of a goal upstairs against the Flames’ Kari Ramo.

Baertschi should probably have at least another point or two, but he’s being robbed by some awful luck. Take this play for example, where he put the puck on net and not one, but two charging forwards swung and missed the bouncing rebound as the net lay wide open in front of them. That’s an easy assist that should have been in the bag.

Shooting

For someone who is ostensibly unseeable, Baertschi seems to be putting a respectable amount of pucks on net. Baertschi has put 6 shots on goal at even strength, fifth on the team after a couple of elite shooters (Daniel Sedin and Radim Vrbata) and a couple of surprises (Jannik Hansen and Adam Cracknell both have 8).

To be fair, sometimes shots on goal do not represent good chances. Players can bounce a puck towards the net and get credit for a shot on a play that had no chances of succeeding. However, that doesn’t appear to be the case here.

(Shooting data courtesy Puckalytics.com)

Passing

While Baertschi has a heck of a shot, one he used last year when he led the Utica Comets in playoff goals, he still considers himself to be a playmaker. And why not? His set up pass may be as impressive as his shot.

Here’s some examples of Baertschi making passes that lead directly to shot attempts, often including tight maneuvers to create time and space, along with some pretty sick sauce.

Possession

Since possession numbers have been such a popular thing lately (certain media members have already cited single-game Corsi stats as “evidence” of poor performances from Brandon Sutter, Dan Hamhuis and Matt Bartkowski), one might assume that having an exceptionally high CorsiFor percentage might buy you some good will around here. Well, you’d be wrong.

Baertschi’s even strength Corsi percentage of 53.12% isn’t just high – it’s the highest on the team. By rate, he also has the highest CorsiFor per 60 minutes (57.47) and has the team’s fourth lowest CorsiAgainst per 60 minutes (50.66) scores.

Baertschi has received some advantageous deployment so far this season: 40% of his shifts have begun in the offensive zone, easily the highest on the team. One might think that this plays a large role in his high possession stats, and, of course, it should contribute a little. But you cannot ignore that he’s also been impressive entering the offensive zone during play.

(All possession data courtesy War-on-ice.com)

Zone Statistics

Baertschi has been pretty impressive in the neutral zone so far. In four games, he’s managed 11 even strength carry-ins. If this number means little to you, just know that he’s been among the top three on the team in carrying the puck into the opponents’ zone with possession in three out of the four games he played. Last game in fact (the game in which he was benched for an entire period), he had four carry-ins, second only to linemate Radim Vrbata.

Game Opp Carry-In Dump Fail/Turnover 1 CGY 3 1 0 2 CGY 1 2 2 3 ANA 3 1 1 4 LAK 4 0 0

Eleven is also only one less than the number of times he started in the offensive zone because of faceoffs at even strength, not to mention the number of other times he entered, either after dump-ins or with teammates controlling the puck. This softens any theory that a large portion of his possession numbers are due to favourable deployment.

The fact that the second line hasn’t been able to generate an even strength goal is certainly playing a role in the perception of the line’s success. And with Bo still playing like a bull in a china shop and Vrbata being a bonafide sniper and all, Baertschi is taking the heat. However, this zone entry data, as with nearly every other metric, demonstrates that Baertschi is keeping pace with his linemates when it comes to establishing and maintaining possession.

Here’s an example of Baertschi exiting his own zone and entering the opponent’s zone with possession, setting up a shot attempt, and drawing a penalty all at once.

(Zone Entry data tracked by JD Burke)

Real Time Stats

Baertschi is not much of a hitter – that simply isn’t his game. To his credit, though, he has thrown the body a couple of times, perhaps to endear himself to a staff that apparently prefers Brandon Prust in their top six. Baertschi has two hits so far, which is still more than Jared McCann, Radim Vrbata or Jannik Hansen has. He even knocked over Drew Doughty.





He’s also blocked three shots, which is on par with the likes of Brandon Prust and Adam Cracknell. His three giveaways rank fairly high on the team, although people often like to point out that you have to have the puck to give it away – Henrik, for instance, has four. His zero takeaways hurt him, however. He’s tied with the captain in that regard, so it’s hard to criticize that too heavily.

Altogether, Baertschi ranks in the middle of the pack when it comes to overall grittiness with a very respectable GRIT rating of 264 (GRIT being an obviously very scientific metric derived by @theninjagreg). Again, he ranks ahead of players like Radim Vrbata, Jannik Hansen, and both the Sedins in this regard.

Here’s one reason why the notion of Baertschi’s invisibility strikes me as odd – some of his most noticeable moments so far this season have been negative ones. If you want to point of Baertschi’s flaws, it might be more effective to point out a defensive zone giveaway, or the time he slipped on the puck and lost it, rather than trying to convince others that he simply can’t be seen.

(Real Time Stats courtesy NHL.com)

The Verdict

So has Sven Baertschi been invisible? No, he certainly hasn’t been. You can see him all over the place (taking shots, setting up chances, tripping on stuff), you just have to pay attention.

Has he had made mistakes? Of course he has, but so has everyone else on the team at some point. Baertschi probably needs a little more leeway, both from fans and from the coaching staff, and taking him out of the lineup now makes little sense in this humble blogger’s opinion. Unfortunately, coach Willie isn’t paying attention to what I think. Judging by line rushes on Thursday morning, it appears that Baertschi may be getting the short stick against St. Louis.

#Canucks extra skaters appear to be Baertschi/Weber as Burrows-McCann-Hansen and Sedins-Sutter become lines #TSN1040 — Jon Abbott (@HockeyAbbs) October 15, 2015

Willie went as far as to provide a potential reason why Baertschi would be on the outside looking in.

Desjardins: “it’s not the try league, it’s the get it done league” re: young players having to show consistency to earn more mins in game — Jon Abbott (@HockeyAbbs) October 15, 2015

We’re getting closer and closer to Yoda here, (“Do or do not; there is no try”), which would make this seem like wisdom. Of course, Baertschi has more points than Radim Vrbata so far this season, so it’s not really so much about doing as it is about a) being young, and b) having to be more visually pleasing. It’s particularly ironic that Baertschi would have gotten an assist on a freebie goal that bounced over Vrbata’s stick – no doubt one of the chances that Willie was talking about here.

The funny thing is, with a couple of different bounces, some goals go in and we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. That’s usually a sign that a narrative is hanging on some pretty tenuous evidence. But then again, it’s easier to make assumptions than to watch closer and do the research. As Mark Twain once said, never let the truth get in the way of a good story.





