Quote:
Originally Posted by Vinny01
I agree with those that think Backlund has been massively overrated by Flames fans over the past 3 years. He has been great in his role but paying him 6x6 would be a disaster. I suggested we trade him in the summer but Bennett did not step up as a centre Like I hoped. I have read posts on HF where Flames fans embarrassingly state that Backlund is better and more important to this team than Monahan. That is a fanboy comment if I ever read it
Losing Backlund for nothing would be awful considering this team has very little in terms of picks. If he wants to go to free agency I would roll the dice and move him for the best return possible and let Bennett try and hang with Tkachuk and Frolik. Give that line less defensive responsibility than they have now and see if they can put up some numbers.
I hope a reasonable deal is reached but I look out east to Montreal who likely is not going to strip it down and will look to retool this summer. They are in desperate need of a top 6 Centre and have cap space to overpay Backlund. This is Backlunds best shot at a payday if he decides to do what his in his best financial interests he will move on. If he feels this team Is on the verge of winning the cup, and loves Calgary he may sacrifice a few million dollars to stay?
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I think the market has shown Backlund what he's worth (Turris got 6M for 6 years), and Backlund settling for anything (significantly) less seems unlikely. So Backlund has to look at that. If Tavares re-signs, Backlund becomes THE free agent this summer. That's a big deal of a player. With that in mind, coupled with the lack of a new contract, and lack of known talks, leads me to believe we will see Backs move on prior to the trade deadline.
I don't think Tree ends up letting Backlund go for free - and I think it's why we kicked tires on Turris, and I also think the reason we were scouting Buffalo was because Reinhart's name had hit the rumour mill. If Tree sees Monahan as the 1C, Jankowski as the 2C - Reinhart could be the 3rd line centre he covets.