The only reason I proposed that Backlund trade is for four reasons:
- The Flames have Granlund, Reinhart and Knight all pushing for spots, and all whom could play center. One of these three could theoretically replace Backlund in this roster position; albeit, it would take them a while to develop to Backlund's level.
- You need to give up something of quality in order for Florida to bite, and that's exactly what Backlund is. He's still young, and really came into his own last season. He's still a good building block for Florida in the future.
- Historically, moving up and around the top five hasn't been TOO TOO expensive; sureloss posted a list of recent trades recently regarding this type of movement, and it's not really out of this world; picks are definitely moved, sometimes players (Fedotenko)... I think the value to move up isn't the monster people have continually built it up as.
- Given these reasons, that's why I wanted to include the 31st overall pick as well; Given his age / value / contract / recent production, Backlund's value is higher than a 2nd; that's where the difference comes in between the 4th and the 1st overall.
Anyways, just some food for thought. If we ended up keeping Backlund, I'd be very happy too.