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Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher
Well Backlund this year has shown more than Baertschi has so I'm not sure why you're giving Baertschi a free pass and ignoring how good Backlund has been. Right now he is a depth centre? Nope, right now he is our best centre.
Am I the only one watching Backlund closely when I watch Flames games? I really don't get it. Tonight he was arguably our most dangerous forward. He battles well along the boards, shows a nose for the net, is giving and receiving passes, has had some nice goals too.
Crazy how underrated he is by some. Pretty sure next season will prove that out.
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Baertschi was dominant in junior, pretty damn effective in the AHL, he's four years younger than Backlund, and even when he hasn't been scoring, he's been generating quality scoring chances. Most importantly, FOUR YEARS YOUNGER and exponentially farther along in his development. That's why Sven gets a free pass.
I like Backlund. I'd give him two years, five million this summer. But nothing about him is particularly game-breaking. He's a passable skater, he has decent hands, his vision is okay, pretty good shot. And he's constantly injured.
He's a useful piece. Is he the best center on the Flames? Probably. But that's more indicative of the Flames having some of the worst center depth in the NHL than it is of Backlund's merit as a core player. Backlund has been in the NHL for parts of three seasons now. He proved this year that he's an NHL player. He has to be one of the best players on the team consistently and put up the numbers to back that up to be a core player. He hasn't done that.