Re-sign Backlund Thread

[fanman]

1. Re-sign Backlund
2. Give him an A on his jersey.

3. Give him the A now, he's deserved it for a while now. Why the hell Brouwer still has one
is beyond me.

[FireGilbert]

Yep get Backlund re-signed already. One of the best 2nd line centres in the league who loves playing in Calgary. It is a no brainer.

[Cgycowboy]

Originally Posted by FireGilbert

Yep get Backlund re-signed already. One of the best 2nd line centres in the league who loves playing in Calgary. It is a no brainer.

One of the best might be a stretch ! Love the guy but in order to become a legitimate top 4 contender I feel like we need more scoring

[FireGilbert]

Originally Posted by Cgycowboy

One of the best might be a stretch ! Love the guy but in order to become a legitimate top 4 contender I feel like we need more scoring

Over 50 points, the 5th best CF% at even strength for centres, and 4th in Selke voting last year all while having the 10th highest % of defensive zone starts for centres. One of the best 2nd line centres is not a stretch at all.

[devo22]

Originally Posted by FireGilbert

Over 50 points, the 5th best CF% at even strength for centres, and 4th in Selke voting last year all while having the 10th highest % of defensive zone starts for centres. One of the best 2nd line centres is not a stretch at all.

also 26th in goals and 36th in points among centers listed on NHL.com.

[FireGilbert]

Originally Posted by devo22

also 26th in goals and 36th in points among centers listed on NHL.com.

Yep that too. Also a few of the players ahead of Backlund listed as centres, such as Draisaitl, Nylander, and Marner don't actually play much centre.

[Backlunds_socks]

I’m guessing Bennett’s emergence as Bennett makes backlund a priority?

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Backlunds_socks

I’m guessing Bennett’s emergence as Bennett makes backlund a priority?

Bennett playing the way he is and Jankowski being stuck in the minors does nothing but strengthen Backlund's negotiating position. Bennett is playing himself out of a great opportunity for a big pay day, and Backlund should send him a gift basket. Backlund is going to be the beneficiary of a big dollar long term contract as a result.

[Imported_Aussie]

The way I see it, you sign Backlund using Stajan's expiring deal to rebalance centres. Have a guy making <1.25M as 4th line C, give that extra 2M to Backlund. When Tkachuk, Bennett and Ferland all need new deals, that coincides with last year of Brouwer, Stone, Hamonic and Brodie. Trade/buyout Brouwer, and since internal growth can fill spots on D, pick 1 of those D to trade (ideally Stone, unless one of the others has priced themselves out). That, plus growth in the cap should help, and if there are guys on cheap deals in net, that helps even more.
Make Jankowski the 4th C until he earns #3, then worry about moving Bennett to wing. I would rather have a team with too many centres, converting one to wing, rather than losing a very good 2 way centre.

[Flash Walken]

5 games into the season and it looks like the flames will have no choice but to sign backlund because there isn't anyone else close to being ready to displace him.

Even if they wanted to move on from him there's no indication of anything even as good being there to replace him with.

He's got the team over a barrel at this point; he's gonna get paaaaaaaaid.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by New Era

Bennett is playing himself out of a great opportunity for a big pay day,

So Bennett's not going to make big money on his next contract, two years from now, because of how he performed on the first six games of the current one?



All righty then.

[ricardodw]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

5 games into the season and it looks like the flames will have no choice but to sign backlund because there isn't anyone else close to being ready to displace him.

Even if they wanted to move on from him there's no indication of anything even as good being there to replace him with.

He's got the team over a barrel at this point; he's gonna get paaaaaaaaid.

Based on the first 6 games there won't be any money left for 2019-20 because Smith is playing like a 8-10M goalie.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

Based on the first 6 games there won't be any money left for 2019-20 because Smith is playing like a 8-10M goalie.

Why would the Flames re-sign a 37-year-old goalie?

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

5 games into the season and it looks like the flames will have no choice but to sign backlund because there isn't anyone else close to being ready to displace him.

Even if they wanted to move on from him there's no indication of anything even as good being there to replace him with.

He's got the team over a barrel at this point; he's gonna get paaaaaaaaid.

I still believe that Backlund's top priority is to remain in Calgary. The guy bleeds for this team like few others over the past couple decades.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I still believe that Backlund's top priority is to remain in Calgary. The guy bleeds for this team like few others over the past couple decades.

So maybe he takes 6 per over 6 years instead of 6.75 over 6.

[flamesfever]

Can you just imagine what our PK would look like without him. And with the number of penalties we are taking, I think our team would rapidly return to the bottom of the pack.

SIGN HIM AND SOON!

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Why would the Flames re-sign a 37-year-old goalie?

Why would they sign 29 year old forward to a long term deal?

Flames will regret anything over $5m x 4 years for Backlund, I love his game right now but I suspect he'll be one of those "peak at 26-30 and disappear" type players

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by Snuffleupagus

Why would they sign 29 year old forward to a long term deal?

Flames will regret anything over $5m x 4 years for Backlund, I love his game right now but I suspect he'll be one of those "peak at 26-30 and disappear" type players

You may well be correct, but players like Backlund get signed in this situation all the time to contracts which everyone knows won't be great at the end.

Why do it then?

Because Calgary is built to won know, or very soon, and Backlund is an important element to those plans.

Letting him go as a UFA, or even trading him, won't likely increase your chances at a Cup.

Building a team to "contend every year" doesn't exist in the cap world.

At some stage you have to "go for it" even if that means signing players to contracts that won't end well, based on the assumption that those years will be at a time when your windows is no longer open.

I'm not saying I'm in favour of giving Backlund 6 years at $6.5M or whatever, but that may be well what it takes to lock him up.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

5 games into the season and it looks like the flames will have no choice but to sign backlund because there isn't anyone else close to being ready to displace him.

Even if they wanted to move on from him there's no indication of anything even as good being there to replace him with.

He's got the team over a barrel at this point; he's gonna get paaaaaaaaid.

Originally Posted by ricardodw

Based on the first 6 games there won't be any money left for 2019-20 because Smith is playing like a 8-10M goalie.

Rarely has anything good has come from a GM making any long term decisions based on what's transpired in the October/November portion of the season.

[VilleN]

Good article on the Flames website: https://www.nhl.com/flames/news/one-...st/c-292050330

Since 2011-12, Backlund has outperformed both Kopitar and Toews in terms of raw defensive prowess. The scoring has come a little later, but Backlund's relative CF of 5.33% is above Kopitar's 3.77% and Toews' 3.34%. He's had far rougher zone starts, too: 42.55%, while Kopitar and Toews have been relatively sheltered at 52.51% and 57.89%, respectively.