2020/2021 Trade Speculation and Rumours

[Classic_Sniper]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Backlund has not been that player since he got absolutely owned by MacKinnon in the Avs series. I am not even sure he is in our top 5 200 foot players let alone our top one. He is a streaky 45-50 point player who makes over $5M a year and is declining, you dump that contract every day. Nobody is taking him on without sending money back. You could expose him in the expansion draft and Seattle would easily pass.

Backlund was the most impressive player in the final stretch of the season last year. That was the best 2 way performance by a Flames center I’ve personally seen and he even continued it into the playoffs where I thought he and Sam Bennett drove the bus.

Seattle would easily take him because players like him don’t grow on trees. He’s the guy usually tasked to shut down all the elite centers every night and he does a pretty good job normally. He has high hockey IQ, can a skate with and without the puck, is an excellent penalty killer, a good puck distributor up the middle, he cycles well and is very under appreciated around here. The Flames are a worse team without him.

He plays a lot of minutes under Sutter and that says a lot. He’ll be protected without question. Zero chance Darryl lets him go for nothing.

[Toonage]

Didn't Danault turn down a $6M a year deal from the Habs? He'd likely be paid more and for longer so you may as well stick with Backlund.

[868904]

It's amazing how the only centremen on this team who regularly goes back into his own zone to support the defensemen and can actually skate it out into transition for offense is so underrated.

Lindholm is more of a support and pass it out type, especially since he gets to play with Gaudreau. Monahan, the play has usually turned up ice by the time he makes it back into the defensive zone. Backlund is the best skater of all the Flames centermen and it's not even close. He's the only centreman on this team capable of going end to end.

I'll give you haters that maybe his defensive game has worsened in years, but he's still way better than Monahan in that regard. Backlund's offense is still good and he didn't even have Tkachuk with him all year this season. And like all you say, he was tasked with all the toughest defensive assignments. If Backlund isn't a good defensive centre anymore, maybe he should be utilized more offensively because the guy is on pace for 50 points playing with Lucic and Nordstrom! Offensively he's on par with Monahan who didn't have to play the tough defensive assignments and got to play with top 6 wingers all season long. What does that say?

[Teroy]

Originally Posted by keenan87

Pretty easy.. just need to find someone who can score more than 0.5 PPG in the playoffs and doesn't get embarrassed by the "toughest match-ups" when it counts in the playoffs.

For as much love as Backlund gets.. he has done absolutely nothing along with the rest of this core when it counts in the playoffs.

Luckily, that's only your opinion. Personally, I like Backs. Some of you would trade the whole team away and next year be demanding a rebuild. It will be interesting to see how this unfolds.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Jiggy

I think Phillip Danault would be a great 3rd line center who could take on the other teams top players a produce a bit.

Daneault’s regular season production is pretty similar to Backlund. If the complain about Backlund is postseason, I see Danault has been in the postseason only twice and has 5 points in 16 games. Backlund has 14 points in 30.

If you can get Daneault at something like his current deal, fine. But if he wants a raise and term, you really aren’t improving yourself very much.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Backlund has not been that player since he got absolutely owned by MacKinnon in the Avs series. I am not even sure he is in our top 5 200 foot players let alone our top one.

This is over stated.

Head to head against Mackinnon in that series:

TOI: 50:58
Corsi For: 51.3%
HDCF%: 65.4%
xGF%: 51.9%
Shooting %: 0%
Save Percentage: 0.897

GF: 0
GA: 3

So overall the Backlund line played mostly fine against the Mackinnon line and carried the play. Problem was our defense got caught a couple of times and gave them odd man rushes, and they got a bit unlucky from a shooting/save percentage perspectgive. I don't blame that on Backlund.

And looking at his play at 5v5 in the two years since that series.

GP: 123

Goals: 15 (6th)
Assists: 36 (T-1st)
Points: 51 (5th)

Corsi For: 52.5% (3rd)
HD Corsi For: 52.2% (3rd)
xGF%: 53.3% (3rd)

Those are still good numbers, and he's still easily one of the top forwards on this team.

That said maybe you still try to dump the contract. But not because he's already declined, but because he's likely to decline over the next 2-3 seasons.

[bluejays]

Re: Backlund, if he’s really that valuable to the organization going forward, why would the Flames expose him? I see value in him but not with that price tag going forward. If the idea is to rebuild, it’s about getting a quality asset back for players you won’t be building around. Additionally for those who you can’t build around but have too high a cap hit, in this case Backlund, you pray that Seattle takes him. Wipe as much unnecessary salary off the books in a rebuild. The bottom line isn’t that he can get more on the open market. The bottom line is we can’t afford him under our current salary structure for what he’ll bring in the future. It’s really simple in my mind.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Toonage

Didn't Danault turn down a $6M a year deal from the Habs? He'd likely be paid more and for longer so you may as well stick with Backlund.

I think it was 6 year $30M so $5M/year until 2027 and age 34 (compared to Backlund’s $5.35 until 2024 and age 35). I guess you can expect he’s looking for $6x6 or something like that since he turned it down.

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by fleury

Re: Backlund, if he’s really that valuable to the organization going forward, why would the Flames expose him? I see value in him but not with that price tag going forward. If the idea is to rebuild, it’s about getting a quality asset back for players you won’t be building around. Additionally for those who you can’t build around but have too high a cap hit, in this case Backlund, you pray that Seattle takes him. Wipe as much unnecessary salary off the books in a rebuild. The bottom line isn’t that he can get more on the open market. The bottom line is we can’t afford him under our current salary structure for what he’ll bring in the future. It’s really simple in my mind.

1. The Flames won’t be exposing him this is wishful thinking by some
2. This team’s plan is to compete and wanting a rebuild is wishful thinking by some
3. Backs has been pretty consistent through the first half of his contract
4. Why can’t the Flames afford him under their current salary structure? Lucic is far more burdensome on the teams cap sheet. I would say right now so is Monahan

[SeanCharles]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

1. The Flames won’t be exposing him this is wishful thinking by some
2. This team’s plan is to compete and wanting a rebuild is wishful thinking by some
3. Backs has been pretty consistent through the first half of his contract
4. Why can’t the Flames afford him under their current salary structure? Lucic is far more burdensome on the teams cap sheet. I would say right now so is Monahan

This is just ridiculous.

You had me until the end.

People have been talking about Monahan like he is broken upon all repair.

Yes, he has struggled in the COVID seasons and most of it can be attributed to injury, which I can understand can be concerning but come on now.

He is still a valuable player in the eyes of NHL GMs.

[Classic_Sniper]

Originally Posted by 868904

It's amazing how the only centremen on this team who regularly goes back into his own zone to support the defensemen and can actually skate it out into transition for offense is so underrated.

Lindholm is more of a support and pass it out type, especially since he gets to play with Gaudreau. Monahan, the play has usually turned up ice by the time he makes it back into the defensive zone. Backlund is the best skater of all the Flames centermen and it's not even close. He's the only centreman on this team capable of going end to end.

I'll give you haters that maybe his defensive game has worsened in years, but he's still way better than Monahan in that regard. Backlund's offense is still good and he didn't even have Tkachuk with him all year this season. And like all you say, he was tasked with all the toughest defensive assignments. If Backlund isn't a good defensive centre anymore, maybe he should be utilized more offensively because the guy is on pace for 50 points playing with Lucic and Nordstrom! Offensively he's on par with Monahan who didn't have to play the tough defensive assignments and got to play with top 6 wingers all season long. What does that say?

Well said. He’s very difficult to play against and is probably the best center on the team at making a defensive stop and then taking the puck himself up ice and breaking through the trap. He has very underrated offensive skills and is very solid in the defensive end. For a guy who has to go up against the Crosby’s and the McDavid’s of the world, he more than holds his own.

If he just learned how to hit the net with more frequency, he would be everything this team needs from a shutdown center.

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by SeanCharles

This is just ridiculous.

You had me until the end.

People have been talking about Monahan like he is broken upon all repair.

Yes, he has struggled in the COVID seasons and most of it can be attributed to injury, which I can understand can be concerning but come on now.

He is still a valuable player in the eyes of NHL GMs.

It all depends how he recovers from the injury. It is not ridiculous to say Monahan and his $6.375M cap hit is not a little concerning at this stage. I am an optimistic fan so fingers crossed we see a return to our 30 goal 60+pt center but after hip and wrist injuries and multiple offseason surgeries it is fair to question how effective he will be moving forward.

I didn’t say he is not valuable but you wouldn’t be able to sell him for a ton of futures you would be trading him for a similar player with a big ticket. If he doesn’t bounce back his cap hit becomes a problem

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by SeanCharles

This is just ridiculous.

You had me until the end.

People have been talking about Monahan like he is broken upon all repair.

Yes, he has struggled in the COVID seasons and most of it can be attributed to injury, which I can understand can be concerning but come on now.

He is still a valuable player in the eyes of NHL GMs.

He is only valuable if he can prove himself healthy.

It’s been two seasons of injuries, which have largely not serious enough to keep him on the bench. That implies chronic type injuries that may effect his performance long term.

I doubt anyone GM is biting if the Flames try to move him before he proves himself productive.


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[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by The Cobra

He is only valuable if he can prove himself healthy.

It’s been two seasons of injuries, which have largely not serious enough to keep him on the bench. That implies chronic type injuries that may effect his performance long term.

I doubt anyone GM is biting if the Flames try to move him before he proves himself productive.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Seeing as how his injuries were completely different (wrist v hips) there is no chronic injury implied.

The willingness of GMs to look at him will depend on the nature of the surgery and how well known the outcomes are. There’s a lot of interest in Eichel despite his surgery being kind of experimental.

[Classic_Sniper]

Originally Posted by fleury

Re: Backlund, if he’s really that valuable to the organization going forward, why would the Flames expose him? I see value in him but not with that price tag going forward. If the idea is to rebuild, it’s about getting a quality asset back for players you won’t be building around. Additionally for those who you can’t build around but have too high a cap hit, in this case Backlund, you pray that Seattle takes him. Wipe as much unnecessary salary off the books in a rebuild. The bottom line isn’t that he can get more on the open market. The bottom line is we can’t afford him under our current salary structure for what he’ll bring in the future. It’s really simple in my mind.

Does anyone honestly see a Darryl Sutter lead team rebuilding?? He barely gives young players a chance. He’s been scratching, benching and crushing them post game all season long. He’s old school and prefers veterans and likes to ride his #1. I'm not even saying this is necessarily a bad thing because he’s got that keen eye to know who’s going to help him win and who’s not.

No chance he excepts a pile of kids that’ll constantly turn pucks over and consistently loses their man in coverage. I think he’d rather go back to the farm at that point.

[Erick Estrada]

The Flames have advanced to the 2nd round just once over Backlund's career. Team success and failure never falls on one player but it's clear that his ability to play a two way game has been a little overrated by Flames fans. The reality is that the team hasn't accomplished much with Backlund occupying a key role as 2nd line two way center. I'm not saying he needs to go but I also think he's part of the core that failed the team for his entire career.

[Ashasx]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

The Flames have advanced to the 2nd round just once over Backlund's career. Team success and failure never falls on one player but it's clear that his ability to play a two way game has been a little overrated by Flames fans. The reality is that the team hasn't accomplished much with Backlund occupying a key role as 2nd line two way center. I'm not saying he needs to go but I also think he's part of the core that failed the team for his entire career.

We should be laming our lack of success on management's inability to acquire a strong group of players, not on the few good players we have had.

Indeed, Backlund is not Bergeron, but he is still a very good two way player.

[Cobra]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

The Flames have advanced to the 2nd round just once over Backlund's career. Team success and failure never falls on one player but it's clear that his ability to play a two way game has been a little overrated by Flames fans. The reality is that the team hasn't accomplished much with Backlund occupying a key role as 2nd line two way center. I'm not saying he needs to go but I also think he's part of the core that failed the team for his entire career.

Yes I agree another Flames center with a little to no success in the playoffs.
Some say he has good Corsi numbers but they dont matter when you continually lose. Results are what it is all about in Pro hockey.

Minus 11 in 30 playoff games....ugh. So bad!!!

You cannot fill much needed top 6 forwards and top 4 defenseman when you pay unsuccessful 3rd line center man over 5 million.
I know I would way rather play head to head against Backlund than Sam Bennett every day of the week.
And Sam would be way cheaper.

[Ashasx]

There is literally nothing of value you can ascertain from +/- in the playoffs

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

The Flames have advanced to the 2nd round just once over Backlund's career. Team success and failure never falls on one player but it's clear that his ability to play a two way game has been a little overrated by Flames fans. The reality is that the team hasn't accomplished much with Backlund occupying a key role as 2nd line two way center. I'm not saying he needs to go but I also think he's part of the core that failed the team for his entire career.

At the very least, you have to give him a pass for 2020 playoffs. The massive step down from Matthew Tkachuk to Tobias Reider absolutely sewered his line's ability at both ends against the Stars. Even Lucic would have been better suited to that role. Personally I would have had Mangiapane and Lindholm on Backlund's wings and then figure out the other lines from there. Alternatively, move Lindholm to 1C and Monahan to the Tkachuk spot on 2RW.