To open up some spots for the youth, our options to move are as follows:
-Glencross: unclear if he will waive
-Stajan: unlikely to have real value on the market
-Hudler: 1 more season to UFA, but high skill and great attitude
-Jones/Setoguchi/McGratten: no value
Seeing this logjam, I think that it may make sense to trade Backlund (I say this as a fan). He is young, intelligent, still has untapped potential, and could likely provide a decent return. At some point we will have to deal players we actually like if we want to address our weaknesses, and Backlund might be one of our only trade chips with value at this point. Coupled with the fact he is often injured and is likely to get pushed down the depth chart in the next 2 years, it could be good asset management to sell high now.
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