Backlund will not be getting exposed in the expansion draft barring something catastrophic. He might have played the best hockey I've ever seen a Flames center play from Feb-Mar of this year. Maybe some stretches from Conroy of 01-02 might have rivalled it, but I was too young to remember. Maybe Monahan of 18-19 had some good stretches too, but Backlund looked absolutely dominant on both ends of the ice which is a rare thing to say for a Flames pivot. The Tkachuk-Backlund combination is also too good to just throw away.
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