Quote:
Originally Posted by New Era
Backlund is not a core player. Yes, he is a great support player, but he is not a player you build around. Paying him like a core player is like paying Nugent Hopkins or Eberle a salary like a core player. Anything more than $5M per, and five years, and you're making a mistake that hurts your long term capacity at being competitive.
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This.
If a guy isn't a core player...you never ever sign him long term. Particularly one who has only been good/great in 2 of his 7 years with the team. Maybe he really is just a late bloomer and will be able to keep his recent play up for a few more years, but is it worth the gamble of 5-6 million a year to find out? No way.
If he is willing to sign something reasonable for 3 years, then great. If not you start to make calls to other GM's.