2020/2021 Trade Speculation and Rumours

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Cobra

I also would expose Backlund as well.
You are the one assuming we get value from him.
He has been here for a very long time and has had zero playoff success. To me that is not delivering on a big money contract.
He is bad on face-offs, rarely blocks shots and I have not witnessed a big check on another player in 10 years.
How do you know if we would miss him at all till he is gone?
With little to no team success during his time here what would it hurt?
Sure would free up some nice Cap space to get an upgrade.

easier said than done...how many FAs better than Backlund are going to come to Calgary for that contract?

I would potentially expose him though, better than losing Bennett (contracts playing a big factor)

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Cobra

I also would expose Backlund as well.
You are the one assuming we get value from him.
He has been here for a very long time and has had zero playoff success. To me that is not delivering on a big money contract.
He is bad on face-offs, rarely blocks shots and I have not witnessed a big check on another player in 10 years.
How do you know if we would miss him at all till he is gone?
With little to no team success during his time here what would it hurt?
Sure would free up some nice Cap space to get an upgrade.

He's a consistent 45-50 point two-way centre that gets the toughest match-ups on most nights.
Not an easy thing to find.
I really don't care about block shots and big hits - they are rather meaningless to the game in my view. Agreed he's weak on face offs.

[Ashasx]

I don't get the idea of exposing Backlund in any situation.

I think he's an valuable player and wouldn't expose him in any case. But even if you're okay with getting rid of him, you would trade him before losing him for nothing in the expansion draft.

[keenan87]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

I don't get the idea of exposing Backlund in any situation.

I think he's an valuable player and wouldn't expose him in any case. But even if you're okay with getting rid of him, you would trade him before losing him for nothing in the expansion draft.

Except for the fact he is on the wrong side of 30 and the cap is extremely tight right now. If he doesn't have a great year, I think you go ahead and move on. Why take a risk and be stuck with a player making $5.35 MM for another 3 years.

That $5.35 MM can be really handy with bringing in another top six player. Let's be realistic here, this contract was made to reduce the cap hit but extend the years. This is a great way of getting rid of a player who might not even be required moving forward.

If Bennett somehow works out next year, I would much rather have Monahan, Lindholm, Bennett down the middle and then use that freed up Backlund salary for a top six winger (or to pay Dube/Mangiapane)

I feel like there are people here who still think of Backlund as a prospect in his early twenties. The dude is 31. This contract will take him to 34. A similar player in Tyler Johnson didn't even get claimed off waivers.

[Reggie Dunlop]

One thing that occurred to me is that, with expanded rosters, a bunch of veteran "Last Chancers" have an opportunity for a late-career renaissance.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

I don't get the idea of exposing Backlund in any situation.

I think he's an valuable player and wouldn't expose him in any case. But even if you're okay with getting rid of him, you would trade him before losing him for nothing in the expansion draft.

The situation is if Dube, Sam and Eat Bread are all worth protecting - so then it comes down who you expose instead of one of those 3..

[blender]

Originally Posted by Cobra

I also would expose Backlund as well.
You are the one assuming we get value from him.
He has been here for a very long time and has had zero playoff success. To me that is not delivering on a big money contract.
He is bad on face-offs, rarely blocks shots and I have not witnessed a big check on another player in 10 years.
How do you know if we would miss him at all till he is gone?
With little to no team success during his time here what would it hurt?
Sure would free up some nice Cap space to get an upgrade.

He is one of the best Flames for moving the puck through the neutral zone.

[blender]

Originally Posted by keenan87

Except for the fact he is on the wrong side of 30 and the cap is extremely tight right now. If he doesn't have a great year, I think you go ahead and move on. Why take a risk and be stuck with a player making $5.35 MM for another 3 years.

That $5.35 MM can be really handy with bringing in another top six player. Let's be realistic here, this contract was made to reduce the cap hit but extend the years. This is a great way of getting rid of a player who might not even be required moving forward.

If Bennett somehow works out next year, I would much rather have Monahan, Lindholm, Bennett down the middle and then use that freed up Backlund salary for a top six winger (or to pay Dube/Mangiapane)

I feel like there are people here who still think of Backlund as a prospect in his early twenties. The dude is 31. This contract will take him to 34. A similar player in Tyler Johnson didn't even get claimed off waivers.

You are making the point you are arguing against.
You can't get a better player than Backlund for the same money right now. Name one that isn't already signed.
You aren't saying Tyler Johnson is better than Backlund are you?

[The Boy Wonder]

Originally Posted by blender

you are making the point you are arguing against.
You can't get a better player than backlund for the same money right now. Name one that isn't already signed.
You aren't saying tyler johnson is better than backlund are you?

nvm.

[keenan87]

Originally Posted by blender

You are making the point you are arguing against.
You can't get a better player than Backlund for the same money right now. Name one that isn't already signed.
You aren't saying Tyler Johnson is better than Backlund are you?

Personally, I would rather have Hoffman (short term deal) than Backlund going into this next season.

Gaudreau-Monahan-Hoffman
Tkachuk-Lindholm-Mangiapane

As per your point, why are you talking about current unsigned players when the expansion is next year .. you know with a whole new crop of Free Agents?

As for Tyler Johnson.. I think they are similar players with similar values. By no means do I think Backlund is a clearly better player than Johnson.

[blender]

Originally Posted by keenan87

Personally, I would rather have Hoffman than Backlund going into this next season.

Gaudreau-Monahan-Hoffman
Tkachuk-Lindholm-Mangiapane

As per your point, why are you talking about current unsigned players when the expansion is next year .. you know with a whole new crop of Free Agents?

As for Tyler Johnson.. I think they are similar players with similar values. By no means do I think Backlund is a clearly better player than Johnson.

Hoffman crossed my mind, but I would be very leery of removing a player with Backlund's defensive capabilites and replacing him with a player with Hoffman's defensive limitations. McDavid and Driasatl would feast on Hoffman, for example.

My point is about replacing Backlund. You can't get equal value in trade, so you would be giving up premium assets to upgrade him. He gets paid market value right now.

I know the context here is the expansion draft, so IF Bennet takes a huge step, and IF someone (Lindholm) steps up in a two-way center role, and IF someone else can replace Lindholm on the Right wing, then exposing Backlund has some merit.

But for now, any talk of addition by subtracting Backlund or freeing up his cap space for the sake of the cap space is silly IMO.

[Sandman]

Backlund gets Selke votes every year, plays a chippy game, and his offense seems to keep getting better every season. Every contender has a player like him. There's players on the team that may be a bit misused, but Backs is a "specialized" guy who if you trade him, you'll be looking for another guy just like him-which could take awhile....

[ForeverFlameFan]

I think there are many fair points on here, but honestly, we need to see how this season plays out.

Backlund and Giordano are definitely wildcards.

[SuperMatt18]

Say no to Hoffman, would be James Neal 2.0 on this roster.

[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

Say no to Hoffman, would be James Neal 2.0 on this roster.

Disagree, based on a) it would be a 1/2 year deal on less money and b) he can actually skate. Agree they’re both garbage at D though.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

I don't get the idea of exposing Backlund in any situation.

I think he's an valuable player and wouldn't expose him in any case. But even if you're okay with getting rid of him, you would trade him before losing him for nothing in the expansion draft.

You say this like it would be easy.

The problem is that, in the year leading up to an expansion draft, EVERY team has the same problems. Every team will be looking to move guys that need protecting in exchange for guys that don't. High priced, declining players that need protecting, will have very little value and will be very difficult to move this year. Plus, the cap is tighter than ever.

If we trade him for someone else that needs protecting, we still have the same problem. If we try and trade him for someone exempt, we'll get pennies on the dollar, and still have to expose someone else.

Backlund will be 32 years old and making $5.35M for 3 more years. If that's what we lose in the expansion draft, that isn't that bad. Because he will be replaceable with the cap savings.

[Monahammer]

Love Backs but I agree that we shouldnt be protecting him in the expansion draft. We'll have a couple of decent players for the Kraken to choose from, they might not even take him if he is exposed. If he is, sucks a bit but we can recover. There has to be some attrition from our top 6 over time- we're not cup winners and yet we're planning to have a relatively static top 6 for a 3 year period? sounds like a recipe for failure.

[gvitaly]

I don’t know Bennett really needs to show me something for the Flames to expose Backlund. Last year Backlund was the best centre on the team. I think his line, regardless of line-mates always pushes the play forward. He gets the toughest defensive assignments, and is a season removed from being +34. His line was not the problem during the playoffs... they held their own. Is all that really worth one more year of Bennett? Unless Bennett takes a huge step forward it’s not. That said I would probably expose a Gaudreau with a year left on his contract before Backlund.

[TOfan]

Originally Posted by keenan87

Personally, I would rather have Hoffman (short term deal) than Backlund going into this next season.

Gaudreau-Monahan-Hoffman
Tkachuk-Lindholm-Mangiapane

As per your point, why are you talking about current unsigned players when the expansion is next year .. you know with a whole new crop of Free Agents?

As for Tyler Johnson.. I think they are similar players with similar values. By no means do I think Backlund is a clearly better player than Johnson.

From a flames fan perspective, I would be scared to death of a Gaudreau Monahan Hoffman line, and not in a good way. Might be a good PP unit, but ES I would bet they would get trounced regularly.

Seems to me Treliving was pursuing Josh Anderson to play with JG and SM as he would have provided an element the Flames think is required to get the best out of those two. Enter Josh Lievo. I think they want someone who can play along the boards with some finish. Hoffman doesn’t seem to be the guy they would want to cast in that role.

[TheIronMaiden]

The Backlund talk in not an indictment of his play to date. It is a prediction about the player he will be after this season. It is rare that forwards can remain effective beyond 32. At 33 and 34 should be Flames be paying him $5,350,000 is the question.

If his cap was less, if his term was less, if the Flames cap structure was different. It would be a no brainer, keep him.

That said, I think that next off season it would be wise to expose him to the expansion. I am skeptical that he would even get selected tbh.

that said, a trade this off season wouldn't make sense, and a trade next off season would not get much value because the cap is likely staying put, and no one wants to add an over paid aging forward.