Backlund has always made whomever was on his line better, starting all the way back to the Bouma years. He may not be that flashy #1 centre that everyone drools over, but he has played incredibly hard minutes for almost his entire career against the opposing teams' best players, and been given a revolving door of rookies to play with, or players who aren't doing so well, and his line always ends up doing well. He always gets the job done and his line mates always improve playing with him.
I can't emphasize this better than this: James Neal basically made every single line he ever played on a black hole that year - but Backlund managed to keep his head above water. That was the most amazing stat I can pull out of my butt when it comes to Backlund. i still love him and I couldn't be happier that he is the captain. Keep Huberdeau with him for half the season, and then see where everyone is at.
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