Quote:
Originally Posted by Erick Estrada
That's the juggling act for a GM. The NFL model used by successful teams is that once aging players start to decline a team will move on regardless of him being a fan favorite, locker room intangibles, etc. NHL GM's aren't afforded the ability to just cut players with guaranteed contracts so a GM has a lot of variables to consider. Do you try to move him while he's still a useful player and weaken your team in the short term to avoid the long term pains? The GM job is much more difficult than most fans think it is. You see players like Lucic, Glencross, Frolik, Neal, Brouwer, etc decline quickly as they age and a GM can't afford to have too many of these guys associated with their roster while trying to build a contender. In regards to Backlund I do agree with what FDW said earlier in this thread in that he will assume the role Stajan did which is fine but the reality is that the team had a hole in it's top 6 with Backlund and with his drift to bottom 6 it's now created two holes in the top 6.
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Right but you're kind of pushing him to the grave hastily.
He's having an off year, but as I said above he's not when it comes to assists and chance generation. Just goals. That doesn't say alarming decline to me.
Even at his current pace he's heading for a 36 point season. Last year 36 points was the 162nd ranked forward, or guy number 5.2 across 31 teams.
You're push into a bottom six role is very premature.