Quote:
Originally Posted by Textcritic
Do you guys remember that he was supposedly KHL-bound by 2014? Backlund has turned into a damn fine player.
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Who could forget. He seemed to be cursed by injury early in his career which held him back a bit. There will be those who also curse out Brent Sutter for some of his early struggles too. But starting in 2013-14 he's been healthier and more often than not an effective player for the team. It's always said that he's a third line center, but they haven't been able to find two guys to force him down the depth chart yet. If only some of those other mid 20's picks the Flames made between 2004 to 2008 worked out anything like Backlund.
Analytics don't care about players off ice contributions to the team or the organization. I do think those things hold some water as you need players who are good citizens and can help keep the culture and expectations for the organization transitioning thru the next group of players. I see Backlund as being the guy who now carries that torch for the team.
Hopefully he can keep going here in the second half and one day get to the 1000 mark. If he stays healthy he'll be at 980 or so at the end of this contract.