Quote:
Originally Posted by GioforPM
Coleman and Mangiapane can both carry the puck but Backlund is quite good at it. Backs doesn’t have a lot of finish, though he has his moments, but Mangiapane has finish. Coleman is just a very smart player and you don’t have to worry about him all the way down the ice.
Plus a line like that can handle the top line from the other team, which often isn’t a great defensive unit, so they can counterpunch hard.
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I think Backlund's finish gets underrated because he is compared to pure finishers like Monahan. If you break down the numbers (5v5 shooting percentage, 5v5 shooting volumes, etc) Backlund's been a similar class of finisher to cup-winning centres like Zetterberg and Toews. You're gonna shank a lot of chances when you're getting... a LOT of chances in congested areas.
Honestly the only true issue with Backlund's game is that he's not great at faceoffs, but I've never considered that a major issue.