Lets Talk About Mr. Backlund

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by AC

Yep. Here are Backlund's linemates this season:

30.63%	BENNETT - FROLIK
 9.73%	COLBORNE - FROLIK
 7.32%	FROLIK - RAYMOND
 5.84%	COLBORNE - FERLAND
 3.64%	JONES - RAYMOND
 3.51%	FERLAND - JONES

Out of all those guys IMO Raymond is the only one who can't help effectively at getting faceoffs. Not heavy or physical enough.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Cali Panthers Fan

I love Backlund except for that damned face-off percentage.

Backlund has hovered between 47 to 48.5% on the dot the last handful of years. This season, a few centers with a faceoff percentage between 47 and 49% include:

Ryan Getzlaf - 48.7% (#1C on probably the best team in the league)
Brad Richards - 48.7%
Sasha Barkov - 48.6% (I'm sure you're familiar with him)
Casey Cizikas - 48.0% (center of the so-called best checking line in hockey)
Evgeny Kuznetsov - 47.3%
Logan Couture - 47.3%
Sean Couturier - 47.1% (A player people probably assume must be better than Backlund, because he's taller)
Riley Sheahan - 46.5% (A player people probably assume msut be better than Backlund, because he's taller)
Derek Stepan - 46.4%
Carl Soderberg - 46.4% (A player people probably assume must be better than Backlund, because he's taller)
Calle Jarnkrok - 46.3%
Adam Henrique - 46.1
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - 45.4%
Mark Scheifele - 44.7%
Artem Anisimov - 44.3%

I'm just gonna go off on a limb, and assume fans of these other teams are not losing hairs because of that center's faceoff percentage.

It would be nice if Backlund were better at faceoffs but it's one of the least important things. And if our team can becomes good enough that one of the bigger hole on the team is a faceoff specialist, then you can replace Matt Stajan with Derek Grant and be done with that too. We've got Jankowski, Arnold, and Hamilton also in the system who may become good depth faceoff-takers too.

Additionally, 19-year-old rookie Sam Bennett has a pretty decent FO% of 46.1% (better than fellow 19-year-olds McDavid, Eichel, Reinhart, Larkin) despite not getting much experience on draws over the past two entire years. 21-year-old Monahan has a FO% of 50.3%. As a team two of our other most important centers are still improving on the dot. And we've traded away the one guy who was hopeless on the dot, Granlund.

Originally Posted by GioforPM

I was going to say this - his wingers haven't been horrible. He probably had a smattering of Jones and maybe Colborne as well, but that shouldn't hurt his faceoff %.

D-men probably influence faceoff percentages as much as wingers, and Wideman, Russell, Engelland haven't been the best puck-retrievers in the world for us.

[FBI]

Originally Posted by Trailer Fire

Where R U Where R U Chris o'sullivan?

banned (thank goodness)
But I think somebody came around recently saying Colborne is going to be in the KHL in a year so maybe WRUCOS is back.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I'll admit I've been a critic of his. I can point to those stats as a player that's stagnated in his development as he's been on essentially the same point pace he set in four years ago. That said I acknowledge he's had a really good 2nd half of the season. If he can play an entire season like he's played the last few months of this season I could be a believer.

A believer in what? Honestly, given that Backlund has been playing consistently at a 0.5 pt/game rate for the past three seasons I am a bit bewildered by what you apparently expect from him. You can't seriously be disappointed with his development as an effective and consistent 40-pt centre?

[polak]

Originally Posted by FBI

banned (thank goodness)
But I think somebody came around recently saying Colborne is going to be in the KHL in a year so maybe WRUCOS is back.

Nah, that's too accurate of a prediction for our good ol' friend.

[BACKCHECK!!!]

Backlund has taken 931 faceoffs this season.
He would need 466 wins to break even.
He has 442 wins.

This means he is underwater by a total of 24 faceoffs over 67 games.

I just want to be clear that the people who are talking about Backlund's faceoff performance as if it's a major factor on the ice are talking about him losing a single extra faceoff about once every 3 games or so.

one faceoff every 3 games is a complete non-issue.

[genetic_phreek]

Leads the team in plus/minus now. This kid plays against tough opponents, used on the PK, and now he's been getting second line PP time. This is a type of depth player you could win championships. I like him.

[Fire of the Phoenix]

Originally Posted by BACKCHECK!!!

Backlund has taken 931 faceoffs this season.
He would need 466 wins to break even.
He has 442 wins.

This means he is underwater by a total of 24 faceoffs over 67 games.

I just want to be clear that the people who are talking about Backlund's faceoff performance as if it's a major factor on the ice are talking about him losing a single extra faceoff about once every 3 games or so.

one faceoff every 3 games is a complete non-issue.

Great post. Faceoffs are the most overrated stat this side of +/-

I'm 99.9% concerned with how a player does winning FOs in the defensive zone at clutch times, not really too concerned about the rest as I feel it balances out in the end. However, you don't really want a guy getting killed on defensive zone faceoffs on the regular, or at key times. I'm not really sure how Backlund does in these situations but just by memory he seems okay. Too lazy to look up the stats on it though haha.

[Erick Estrada]

By Warrener and Boomer were pretty hard on him this morning asking where was this play at the beginning of the season when the games counted. I'll look on the positive side in that even if he's playing better when the games don't count and the pressure is off at least it's something to build off. They are right in that he really has to start off a season better if the Flames are going to have success next season but better him playing well now than simply having an awful season going into the summer.

[LouCypher]

Backlund is a great example of a later 1st round pick who was given time to develop and adapt to what ever role suited him best in the NHL. I think at first people were expecting him to be a guy who would put up points and be an offensive minded number 2 or maybe 1A centre. He was the 2nd highest rated European in his draft year and coming off a knee injury that hurt his ranking a bit IIRC. Now he has turned into a great 2 way, need to have if you want to win type of centre. I have been a fan since we drafted him and am quite pleased with how he is turning out, really clutch at times to which will be invaluable over the next few years as we turn ourselves into a contender.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by Fire of the Phoenix

Great post. Faceoffs are the most overrated stat this side of +/-

I'm 99.9% concerned with how a player does winning FOs in the defensive zone at clutch times, not really too concerned about the rest as I feel it balances out in the end. However, you don't really want a guy getting killed on defensive zone faceoffs on the regular, or at key times. I'm not really sure how Backlund does in these situations but just by memory he seems okay. Too lazy to look up the stats on it though haha.

The also little discussed fact about face offs is that strong wingers are needed to win faceoffs that aren't clean wins. Unless it's a clean win you need wingers to dig in and get the puck for the win. That's not on Backlund either

[Fire of the Phoenix]

If Backlund could play like this all year, he would be a true #1 center. It makes no sense to criticize him for the ebbs and flows of a season. It's not like he was playing like an AHL scrub at the beginning of the year either. Backlund makes $3.5m a year, pretty much average salary for an average NHLer who is basically a 2nd/3rd line player. I'm not sure why people would expect him to maintain elite production over the course of an entire season.

[Fire of the Phoenix]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

The also little discussed fact about face offs is that strong wingers are needed to win faceoffs that aren't clean wins. Unless it's a clean win you need wingers to dig in and get the puck for the win. That's not on Backlund either

You're right, that is a huge factor. I think we would see his faceoff % go up by 2-5% if he played with bigger, stronger and more tenacious wingers with more regularity, but those guys are in short supply. Frolik and Bennett are good players but the aren't really that type of player, though Bennett may develop into one.

Lucic, Backes, Ladd or Okposo on this team would go a long, long way for the Flames. I'm not greedy, I just want one of them lol

[polak]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

By Warrener and Boomer were pretty hard on him this morning asking where was this play at the beginning of the season when the games counted. I'll look on the positive side in that even if he's playing better when the games don't count and the pressure is off at least it's something to build off. They are right in that he really has to start off a season better if the Flames are going to have success next season but better him playing well now than simply having an awful season going into the summer.

This is bull####. Where the #### was the whole team!? We had ONE player show up for the first two months. That seems more of a coaching issue/team morale issue then anything?

[Strange Brew]

The Flames as a whole really need to understand what was behind the slow start. Backlund wasn't the only guy playing poorly. The D was horrible. It's it all on the goaltending and seems too easy to blame coaching.

It is fair to say the play at the start of the season is more meaningful than the games now and should count more towards evaluation.

[Bingo]

Seems like some are a little bit like Lucy with the football when it comes to Backlund



He's brittle ... then hasn't missed a game.
He's unproductive ... but then he is
He's inconsistent ... but he's not
Now he's only good when games don't matter

Dude is just good

People need to face it. Not many $3.5M players pull in 40+ points

[polak]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

The Flames as a whole really need to understand what was behind the slow start. Backlund wasn't the only guy playing poorly. The D was horrible. It's it all on the goaltending and seems too easy to blame coaching.

It is fair to say the play at the start of the season is more meaningful than the games now and should count more towards evaluation.

I think it was pressure and lack of mental fortitude when things started getting out of hand.

[shermanator]

Backlund is a consistent two way centre who has averaged 40 points per year since the last lockout. IMO he's the perfect third line centre behind Monahan and Bennett going forward. And he's at a cap hit similar to Matt Stajan.

He's a key component of this squad going forward. Maybe not to the likes of Monahan or Gaudreau or Brodie, but he's a still very important to the club.

[codynw]

Originally Posted by shermanator

Backlund is a consistent two way centre who has averaged 40 points per year since the last lockout. IMO he's the perfect third line centre behind Monahan and Bennett going forward. And he's at a cap hit similar to Matt Stajan.

He's a key component of this squad going forward. Maybe not to the likes of Monahan or Gaudreau or Brodie, but he's a still very important to the club.

He's never hit 40 points once.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

By Warrener and Boomer were pretty hard on him this morning asking where was this play at the beginning of the season when the games counted. I'll look on the positive side in that even if he's playing better when the games don't count and the pressure is off at least it's something to build off. They are right in that he really has to start off a season better if the Flames are going to have success next season but better him playing well now than simply having an awful season going into the summer.

I heard that too, and thought they were being really unfair.