Quote:
Originally Posted by Jason14h
The other issue though is he isn't really suited or a good #3 center.
He isn't big, doesn't kill penalties well, isn't good in the faceoff dot. He can't really shut down the other teams top centers.
The is nothing wrong with Backlund. The problem is he does everything pretty good, and nothing exceptional.
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Really that isn't at all true.
According to stats he kills penalties really well, his defensive zone faceoffs are very strong, and he has been decent in a shutdown role.
Really the issue is that everyone hoped Backlund would be a top 6 center that would produce points for us, and he isn't that at all.
It's also hard to measure defensive effectiveness, and since he isn't big, strong, and physical people think that he can't be an effective defensive center-man, even though most stats would say that isn't true.
His overall FO% does need work, and he could still use a little more strength but you could do a lot worse as a 3rd line center.
Personally I have no issue with Stajan/Backlund sharing duties as our shut down centers. Hopefully in the long term somebody like Arnold or Jankowski can replace one of them, but they aren't there yet.