I love Backlund's attitude, speed, defensive plays and his flashes of offence. He hasn't been able to consistently beat out other centers for a spot though. I do think Backlund is one of those 'longer-term' development players who could really start improving (especially when comparing him to other Swedish players apparently).
I am a bit surprised that Feaster is willing to move him at this point, but also not surprised... He is young and does a lot of things really well, and there IS flashes of good offensive ability, but at the same time he just hasn't put it all together yet. In a rebuild, it would make sense to keep him around and just see what he becomes, but it also makes sense to trade anyone away who doesn't fit what this team is building towards - including prospects/young players.
If (or when) he gets traded, I just hope it will be to a team I don't hate. Though he hasn't lived up to what us fans were hoping for, it is really hard to dislike him as a player (for me anyways), and I will wish him the best. I still think he could very well develop into a very good 2nd line center, but with the Flames suddenly finding themselves fairly deep in top 6 or top 9 centers in their prospect depth, I guess he can be expendable.
I would feel much better about him getting traded if Knight was given a good 15 games or so to see how NHL ready he is, and I feel Stajan should be traded ahead of Backlund (this is a rebuild after all). Just hope the return justifies the move. I have no idea where Backlund would rank - teams that employ a lot of emphasis on advanced stats will probably think a lot more highly of him.
I just think the smarter move at this point would be to trade Stajan while his value is probably the highest it has been since the Phaneuf deal, and allow Backlund top-line minutes to at least 'showcase' himself in an effort to drive up the return. I feel right now, Backlund will be traded at a bargain-bin price, even though the Flames I am sure are in no hurry to unload him.
|