[Vinny01]

I don’t think anyone wants to get rid of Backlund butnis completely reasonable to not want to overpay him until his mid 30’s. Personally I hope he signs for a reasonable deal but the two worst case scenarios are overpaying him which could make it hard to retain young players when they need a raise or losing him for nothing in free agency. Both are realistic possibilities.

This team is supposed to win now and they have not taken a step forward despite upgrading their goaltending and defense. It is not to say they can’t win with so many key forwards being young and some solid D prospects but maybe the Flames need to take a step back rather than pay a 2nd line centre $6M when we all hope Backlund gets pushed down to the third line due to Jankowski developing.