Quote:
Originally Posted by ForeverFlameFan
Probably the only flaw in Treliving. Doesn’t think we have the players in our system or on the farm already. Backlund has been loyal to this organization his whole career and hasn’t asked for an off-the-chart contract. I’m sure that like you said, Backlund is a complimentary piece and for that reason we have not extended him. We’re still trying to gauge his value, or what to re-sign him for.
|
I like Backlund but pending free agency for a player like this is a difficult thing for a GM. Treliving knows he's a popular player and recognizes his solid 2-way contributions but he's been stung by overpaying other free agents like Brouwer (his own fault of course) and players like Backlund are difficult to gauge because his offensive stats don't scream of a player that warrants a long term deal at $5+ million but he brings other intangibles that you have to weigh the pros and cons of his value into his 30's once he becomes a 30-40 point player. Somewhat similar to a player like Andrew Ladd that got overpaid because of intangibles and those deals tend to look poor sooner than later.