Backlund continues to be underrated by his own fanbase after all these years; he quietly plays shutdown minutes against the games best players and isn’t caved in while doing so; he maybe lost a couple of assists last year but his 15 goals is right in line with his average of the last 6 years or so, all while being on a team that punched way above its weight last year and got snubbed out of a playoff spot because of a historic run by the blues down the stretch. If Backs does more of his same play this coming season and the flames do sell at the deadline I think he could command a 1st, shutdown centers who are good at faceoffs don’t grow on trees no matter their age, and though he likely commands the 2nd you elude to, if there’s an arms race going on its players like Backs that teams overpay for at the deadline.
He is getting older and this might be the first season where he does find himself in the bottom 6/3rd line role, but at any rate he’s been an absolute warrior for this team and Ill happily watch him provide more minutes for the Flames. His patented inside out deke is a thing of beauty.
|