Quote:
Originally Posted by New Era
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.
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.
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.
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There's a ton in this post that I could respond to, but I'm gonna keep it nice and short because it's bed time for me.
The difference between Backlund and Brouwer is that they're complete polar opposites. Backlund plays the most important forward position. Brouwer doesn't. Backlund is a possession God. Brouwer is a 100lb anchor. Backlund is an absolute defensive monster. Brouwer makes a pylon look like a Selke candidate. Backlund has hovered around the 48-53 point mark the last 3 seasons. Brouwer has never come close.
In short, Backlund is currently an elite two-way player. He's among the elite of the elite defensively while providing close to 50 points a season, if not more.
He's still on pace for 48 points despite being incredibly unlucky this season by all accounts (S%, oiSH% and PDO are all the lowest they've been in 7 years) and continues to absolutely obliterate his opponents night in and night out despite being matched up against opposing teams' top lines every night and being buried in defensive zone starts.
Anyone complaining about his contract is just looking for something to complain about because his contract, by all accounts, is fantastic. 90% of the hockey world (100% of the analytics world) figured he'd get more than what he did.
The only comments in this thread should be praising Treliving and bowing to Backlund for taking a hometown discount. So many negative posters around here who are posting nonsense without any sort of evidence to back up their claims.