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Originally Posted by dustygoon
Second comment of a great thread. Are you kidding me? Can you go edit this or something? It’s just dumb.
Solid player. Selke nominee. Team drafted him and part of fabric of team. From another country and he wants to call Calgary home. Fair contract.
What do you want?
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Just want to point out some of the crazy things floating around this thread.
No one is nominated for the Selke. The PHWA votes on who they think is the best defensive player in the league. They do so by casting a ballot with five players on it, and the scoring works on a must system. 57 players received votes for Selke. Backlund finished 4th, receiving only 310 must points. That was well behind eventual winner, Patrice Bergeron (1147 pts), and runners up Ryan Kesler (945) and Miko Koivu (752). Backlund only appeared on around 50% of ballots cast, so it was not like he was some consensus selection.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Beninho
Some people obviously don’t understand that Backlund would’ve probably got 6 years for 6 mill on the open market.
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What a player could get on the open market is irrelevant. The Flames have a budget, and they pay a player what they think he will bring to the team. This is where there is some difference of opinion and the variance on his worth. Backlund is being paid like a 2nd line center, which he currently is. If his production slips, or he gets passed in the pecking order, the Flames have a problem on their hands. If someone on the open market wants to over-pay a player, good for them. Let them screw up their salary structure. The Flames should continue to pay players what they think they will be worth to the hockey club over the term of the contract and not be concerned about what player X could get on the open market.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Flacker
What's not to like? Faceoffs, defensive zone starts, PK guru, 30-50+ points over the span of the contract. Glad we got him signed.
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Faceoffs is one thing not to like. Backlund is the Flames weakest center in the faceoff dot. Coming in at 48.7% in the dot is not great, especially when you're supposed to be a defensive specialist. Zone starts don't affect your face-off abilities, and this is a purely individual measure where Backlund could improve.
His point production has be maintained in the 50 point range over the length of the contract. Any dip and Backlund will quickly become a liability and whipping boy for the fans here. Can you imagine a player scoring 30 points and getting $5M+ a season? That's like a guy scoring 25 points and getting paid $4.5M. We know how popular that guy is.
Backlund's contract should worry people. Treliving just drew a line in the sand that everyone else gets to use in negotiations. If Backlund is worth $5M+, what is Tkachuk worth? What is Ferland worth? Those two contracts just went up substantially. I'm skeptical that Backlund will be able to produce at the pace to earn the money he's being paid. I'm also concerned that this contract will be used to beat up Treliving when it comes negotiating future contracts with players that surpass Backlund in the lineup.
Don't get me wrong. I'm happy Backlund got signed. What concerns me is how long Backlund will remain a viable player and how this contract will affect others. I just don't see Backlund being a $5M+ player in two years, and I think this is going to hurt the team in the long run. I can see Backlund becoming the new Troy Brouwer or Matt Stajan in years 3-6.