It wasn’t a matter of if injuries were going to happen to the Vancouver Canucks—it was when.

But it didn’t always seem like it was a certainty that Sven Baertschi would be back with the team this season.

After being demoted to the Utica Comets after training camp, amid criticism from coaches and management that past concussion injuries were making him play timid, all Baertschi has done is light the American Hockey League on fire.

Of course, Baertschi is an NHL player. He spent the two seasons prior to this one on the Canucks’ (admittedly not incredible) top lines before acquisitions at forward forced him out.

The team believes that Baertschi’s skillset is meant for the top six, and that was part of sending him down as other players filled those roles. But with the team now taking baby steps toward embracing a system that sees offensive contributions all throughout the lineup, they may have figured that it was time to see what Baertschi could do.

Or, you know, general manager Jim Benning and coach Travis Green figured it would be unnecessarily cruel to keep Baertschi in Utica after how well he’s played.

To that end, Baertschi has 10 points in seven games with the Utica Comets, who are undefeated (8-0-0) and at the top of the North Division of the AHL.

Promising forward Adam Gaudette was called back up to the lineup after Tyler Motte was hurt, which was something of a no-brainer given that Gaudette originally made the team.

But the team needs another body at forward after it appeared that Micheal Ferland was hurt in a staged fight with Los Angeles Kings forward Kyle Clifford. 

https://twitter.com/official_HFL/status/1189738185649049600

According to TSN1040's Rick Dhaliwal, Baertschi will get the call. 

https://twitter.com/DhaliwalSports/status/1190267794371203073

(Taking on a fight like that just seems reckless and not the kind of physical authority anyone wants to see out of Ferland, but that’s a topic for another day.)

It remains to be seen whether Baertschi will actually get in the lineup. Right now, Loui Eriksson has figured back into Tyler Motte’s slot on the fourth line. Ferland, like Baertschi, is a winger, while Gaudette is a natural centre. But the latter has played some wing (and has also moved Brandon Sutter to the wing on occasion), so it could go either way.

In any case, it appears Baertschi might not make it to tonight’s game in Anaheim.

https://twitter.com/DhaliwalSports/status/1190268633798205440

Now, when it comes to another former Canuck winger buried in Utica, Nikolay Goldobin (Baertschi’s current running mate in the lower league), holding one’s breath is not advised.

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