Quote:
Originally Posted by sworkhard
1. He's 23.
2. He's the best forward on the team at moving the puck forward and maintaining possession. Nearly every player on the team that plays with him gets more scoring chances with playing on a line with him than when they don't. Petty impressive.
I think that qualifies as a successfully developing a NHL Player. It's much too early to determine how great of a success it was, but just getting a solid NHL player that can drive possession on any line and score a few goals matches reasonable expectations for a late 1st round pick.
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Backlund is a playmaking center at heart. As such he makes his linemates better. But that is meaningless without offensive production. At this point, I wouldn't call Backlund an NHL player yet. He's been given chances based on his potential and status of being a 1st round pick.