Quote:
Originally Posted by Anduril
Enoch's reply was to the bolded bit about Brad's claim that "Backlund has never shown himself to be a consistent 50 point producer". Not that he's averaging 50 pt per season in his career.
3 seasons worth of data shows that Backlund has on average, produced 49.7 points. Good enough in my eyes to refute that Backlund has never been a consistent 50 point player.
Nobody is ignoring or expecting that Backlund's offensive production won't drop off sooner than later based on his age. However the fans of the deal willing to overlook the cost of the contract near the end, are looking at the positives like relative cap savings right now, ability to retain defensive play at an older age and being a valuable member of the team at any point of his career.
|
And 9 seasons of data shows something different......thats my point.
I hope he hits 60 points...hell i hope he hits 100, but that doesnt change the fact he hasnt, and almost assuredly wont as he gets older. I would like to see what he does with a different wingman on his left, as I think thats what will define how good this deal is when all is said and done. Unless we are OK with paying 5+ per, for a really good defensive specialist, which is what he is if he regresses to his norm, he needs to produce at a clip he simply hasnt done for more than 2 1/2 years yet. I think he can, but there is a real risk he doesnt.
This contract has every chance to blow up in the Flames face as it does to be a good value...which is why several people dont particularly like the term. Though, admittedly, its a better gamble to have him on the team than not, and this was the price to make that happen.