Quote:
Originally Posted by moon
Or he would have been in the AHL developing like he should be.
He hasn't shown anything close to the offensive skill to indicate he should be on the pp or top 6 and with his terrible defensive awareness he is lucky to get 11 minutes in the NHL. If he wasn't a first round pick he wouldn't be up with the Flames based on his track record and ability.
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I wasn't going to comment but after seeing this i have to question your philosophy of how he should be handled?
You do realize that scoring is almost exclusively on the powerplay now. When a player like backlund never see's the ice on the pp how is he supposed to produce? Playing 10 minutes a game (with 2-3 being pk minutes) alongside checkers or fighters does nothing to push a players offensive game.
Look at what happened to tanguay when keenan had him off the pp unit a few years ago. You expect a rookie to be able to put up 40 plus points as a checker? If he gets even a minute a game with the second unit i guarantee there would be a notable spike in his numbers.