I see Backlund as one of the core pieces of the team moving forward and having a far longer tenure on the Flames than either of Stajan or Colbourne. Both the aforementioned players will be key players for the team this year and next, but I can't see either of them having a long term impact like Backlund in the 2016-17 season, especially when the team really starts contending.
I think having a top three of Backlund, Monahan, and Bennett will be an amazing corner stone of this franchise. Even with guys like Granlund, Janokowski, Jooris, Shore and Arnold will in the pipeline or on the team now, we know there will be spurts where there will be injuries so there is plenty of space for these guys in the longterm.
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