Quote:
Originally Posted by Bingo
Huh?
Looked it up as I haven't seen that and the numbers say otherwise.
His CA60 this year is his best in ten seasons. Same with his xGA60.
Not good results this year, but his on ice save percentage is terrible ... not getting a save when he's on the ice. Only Sam Bennett and Brett Ritchie have had worse goaltending while on the ice.
There's a reason that Sutter speaks about Giordano, Tanev and Backlund glowingly all the time.
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Backlund is in the midst of a season that is slightly bucking his recent trends. But it's not a big enough improvement to convince me his results since around 2017 aren't still in decline.
Per Evolving-Hockey, here are Backlund's even-strength defensive Goals Above Replacement results since the lockout.
2012-13: 1.6 goals above replacement (5th on CGY)
2013-14: 3.2 goals above replacement (3rd on CGY)
2014-15: 1.3 goals above replacement (8th on CGY)
2015-16: 3.3 goals above replacement (1st on CGY)
2016-17: -2.5 goals above replacement (22nd on CGY)
2017-18: 0.4 goals above replacement (12th on CGY)
2018-19: -1.5 goals above replacement (19th on CGY)
2019-20: -0.9 goals above replacement (21st on CGY)
2020-21: 0.9 goals above replacement (8th on CGY)
Backlund was once consistently an excellent defensive play-driver. He has regressed in his own end and is now being propped up by his largely positive offensive results (although those, too, have declined). That is also reflected in his expected goals against results, which actually paint him as generally mediocre defensively even at his perceived peak. But GAR is a lot more nuanced than raw xGA.
(rankings min. 10 GP)
2012-13: 2.05 xGA/60 (5th on CGY)
2013-14: 2.06 xGA/60 (10th on CGY)
2014-15: 2.21 xGA/60 (10th on CGY)
2015-16: 2.08 xGA/60 (6th on CGY)
2016-17: 2.18 xGA/60 (13th on CGY)
2017-18: 2.13 xGA/60 (8th on CGY)
2018-19: 2.3 xGA/60 (21st on CGY)
2019-20: 2.43 xGA/60 (14th on CGY)
2020-21: 1.9 xGA/60 (7th on CGY)