From my POV no urgency to get Brodie done just yet. I'm very appreciative of what he's done, but even if he goes to RFA, we don't risk losing him for nothing, and we can still take the risk of arbitration without him going UFA after.
Backlund is a bit more complicated. His valuable stats don't necessarily translate to arbitration, and yet, there is such a demand for centers, even average centers. I look at Tyler Bozak's deal as the biggest comparable.
I would wait until the new year, to make sure Backlund isn't just a one year wonder offensively, and health wise, then offer a team friendly 3yr deal between 3.5 and 4m/yr (settling at 4m/yr at worst) over 3yrs. At best he's Statsny (3rd center left out, because so many better ahead of him. At best he's around for awhile on a club friendly deal for a while. If we start being overly generous right now with Backlund, we are going to have serious problems with Monahan and Bennett going forward. And let's be real, Backlund hasn't had a healthy season until this last...
Even if we lose him (after next season), for nothing, we should be deep enough at the center position to replace him.
It's not quite as desperate as the oilers giving a big contract to Gagner for scoring an 8pt game, but paying 20m to Backlund now stinks of desperation.
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