HW 2011 Prospects: Sven Baertschi

Hockey Wilderness has decided to rank their 30 favorite prospects in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft and will analyze each and every one of them. So on draft day, you'll have a good sense of who's who.

With each post, you will get to understand what type of player he is, and how he can help the Wild. You'll understand his strengths, flaws and get to understand what type of player he'll develop into.

The HW's Rank - The average rank of several of our favorite available rankings, weighted appropriately.

Summary Scout Notes - A broken down version of comments offered by each service. To read the whole explanations, click on the source site and search.

Now, introducing Portland Winterhawks winger Sven Baertschi:

Sven Baertschi

#27 / Left Wing / Portland Winterhawks

Height: 5-10

Weight: 181

Born: Oct 5 1992

Don't forget to check out the Hockey Wilderness 2011 Draft Page as well. Just click on the picture.

History And Accomplishments

2009-10  U18 WJC Top 3 Player on Team

2010 CHL Import Draft - 1st Round, 7th Overall (Portland Winterhawks)

2010-11 WHL Western Conference Rookie of the Year

HW's Take:

Last but definately not least, is Swiss winger Sven Baertschi. You wanted a winger that can take Mikael Granlund's passes and snipe that on net? Baertschi's your guy.

He is a shifty winger with good playmaking skills and great vision. However, his true strength is his ability to score. His wrist shot is very accurate and strong, and can seemingly score from anywhere on the ice. He is also a very good stickhandler, and doesn't mind playing with some grit.

However, like many goal-scoring prospects, his defensive game comes into question. Baertschi tends to shy away from going into the dirty areas and at the NHL level, sometimes you just have to to get the goals. You can't always rely on your shot.

Nonetheless, Baertschi has is a great kid and if he focuses on improving his two-way play, he would be a perfect fit for the Wild

HW's Projection

Top six goal-scoring winger

Summary Scouts Notes

For full explanations, click on the links:

Portland head coach Mike Johnston (via NHL.com)

Quick, skilled, very fast type of player... I don't think anyone can stay on the ice as long as he does. We have to tell him to get off the ice 45 minutes after practice ends. He stays out there forever to work on his game. He works on inside-outside moves, quick shots and little foot movement.

B2011DW

Swiss sniper can really put the puck in the net ... excellent skater who can explode to top speed in just a few strides ... has a heavy, accurate shot that he loves to rip coming off the rush ... got a quick stick and has a vicious little shot ... very good puck skills ... a solid kid who is passionate and plays with a lot of natural exuberance ... he does have a tendency to play a perimeter game and stay away from the dirty areas of the ice ... one-dimensional

OHLProspects

Sven Bartchi is an all around dynamic offensive talent ... is strong on his skates and is very tough to knock off the puck ... very good shot, with a quick release ... a strong passer ... has excellent hands, deftly able to stickhandle through heavy traffic ... a smart player, able to read plays and set them up effectively and seemingly effortlessly ... plays the game with an edge ... biggest knock on Bartschi is his two-way play ... needs to continue to get better defensively 

Video Evidence

Sven Bärtschi - Turbo Time (via YanthaCanada)

Where Does He Fit With The Wild?

Like a glove, paired with Mikael Granlund. Granlund has the ability to make plays out of nothing and Baertschi has the ability to score from anywhere.

You wanted a goal scoring prospect? Here he is.

Good Choice At #10?

Probably the most realistic pick in my view at #10. I have Ryan Murphy, Ryan Strome and Mika Zibanejad picked before the Wild but if any of them fell to the Wild, it would be a long discussion between them and Baertschi.

So yes, some may disagree with me but I love Baertschi at #10.

How Does He Look As A Wild?

Comment away!

Special thanks to Brock Otten, Kirk Luedek, Scott Campbell, and Dan Shrader