Flames shoring up for the next few years the C position. We are in a much better position at C than we were 5 years ago.
Monahan
Bennett
Backlund
Stajan
I just hope with Backlund steps up and responds to this double his salary raise.
His offence ouput if repeated this season simply isn't good enough.
Reg 2nd line min and reg 2nd unit pp min should have resulted in more points for Backlund.
I think Backlund has it in him to be 50-60pt if he can stay uninjured.. I want to see him get to that.
Love this deal. I can see why they didn't go too long-term, with the possibility that Arnold or Jankowski can be a cheaper / (Potentially Better?) option at the #3C in the future and yet for the next three years this is dirt cheap.
Backlund must have a terrible agent because he could easily have commanded 4.5+ as a UFA.
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Reg 2nd line min and reg 2nd unit pp min should have resulted in more points for Backlund.
Backlund's even strength point production was very good. Pro-rated for an 82 game season he would have had 25 EV assists and 12 EV goals - and that's for a guy who's always matched up with the other team's top line. For some comparision, Claude Giroux in 81 games had 11 EV goals and 25 EV assists. Ryan Kesler in 81 games had 14 EV goals and 19 EV assists. Basically at even strength, Backlund puts up the points.
It's his power play production which was brutal. I think a lot of that would come down to his linemates Colborne/Raymond being brutal on the power play. Last year on the PP unit with IIRC Hudler and Camalleri, Backlund had 6 PP assists and 5 PPG, this year all season he had just 1 PP assist.
If you combine his 2014 PP production, and his 2015 EV strength production, that's a prorated 19 goals / 31 assists - which I think is what Backlund is as a natural scorer - a solid 50 point guy who's never actually hit that mark.
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Last edited by GranteedEV; 06-20-2015 at 12:51 PM.
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Realistically who are Backlund's best comparables around the league?
Slightly less offense than Vermette. About on par with Mike Fisher offensively now.
Vermette is coming off a $3.75M deal, about to cash in likely. Fisher is coming off a $4.2M deal.
Agree - there's a great signing - and now Backs needs to prove he is worth the increase. I'm sure he'll rise to the occasion as he's steadily improved each year.
I've been a big Backlund supporter for years, so am pleased to see him signed. However...
I've also been saying for years that the Flames must improve their faceoff capabilities. If they're not going to make a personnel change, I sure hope the centres they have are spending a bunch of time this offseason trying to improve that skill.
