After several months of speculation, Mikael Backlund himself confirmed that he has no desire to sign an extension with the Calgary Flames at this time. The 34-year-old wants to win, and clearly isn’t convinced that this team is capable of doing that over the next few years. As a result, this may force general manager Craig Conroy to move him elsewhere, whether that be this offseason or prior to the 2024 trade deadline.
Despite Backlund’s age, he remains extremely productive. This past season saw him score 19 goals and a career-high 56 points in 82 games while finishing sixth in Selke Trophy voting. He has one season remaining on his deal with a cap hit of $5.35 million, making him an intriguing option for several teams around the league. Here are three that may serve as the best fits.
Minnesota Wild
The Minnesota Wild are a pretty good hockey team plagued by their lack of talent down the middle. Because of this, they have often been forced to rely on Frederick Gaudreau in a top-six role over the past two seasons. While the 30-year-old is a serviceable NHLer, there are very few other teams with whom he’d receive that large of a role.
Adding Backlund would give the Wild another very solid two-way centerman, along with Joel Eriksson Ek. It would also give head coach Dean Evason another option to pair some of his top wingers with in Kirill Kaprizov and Mats Zuccarello.
The Wild currently have over $7 million in cap space, which would allow them to make this move with relative ease. Perhaps they could intrigue the Flames with a defenceman in Calen Addison, who has tons of offensive ability but fell out of favour with the Wild coaching staff last season.
Columbus Blue Jackets
Despite their struggles this past season, the Columbus Blue Jackets’ future is looking quite bright. They were able to bring in two very solid defencemen in Ivan Provorov and Damon Severson, and also selected Adam Fantilli at third overall in this year’s draft.
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But while they do have several impressive pieces, they could desperately use some help at center. This past season, they had Boone Jenner in the middle of their first line, whereas on most teams, he would be best in a third-line role. Bringing in Backlund would provide them with a significant boost in that position and would also reunite him with his longtime teammate in Johnny Gaudreau.
The Blue Jackets have just under $4 million in cap space, meaning they would need to move a contract back in order to make things work out money-wise. Jack Roslovic could be an interesting addition for the Flames, though he’s also set to become an unrestricted free agent (UFA) next summer. Perhaps Alexandre Texier, who only has one year left on his deal but then will be a restricted free agent (RFA), could make some sense.
Boston Bruins
For the second straight offseason, the Boston Bruins are facing major questions in regard to their future. Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci are once again UFAs and are believed to be considering retirement. If both do indeed call it a career, the Bruins’ depth chart in the centre position will have taken a major hit and will undoubtedly put them in the market to acquire talent down the middle.
Even if Bergeron and Krejci are to retire, the Bruins have several pieces that will allow them to remain competitive. Adding Backlund should, at the very least, enable them to remain a playoff team and would allow players like Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak to continue producing high numbers offensively.
The Bruins currently have the cap space to pull this off but still have two RFAs in Jeremy Swayman and Trent Frederic. The priority will be getting them locked in first, but afterward, they could prove to be a great fit for Backlund should both Bergeron and Krejci choose to retire.
Backlund Remains Very Versatile
While the teams mentioned above would likely use Backlund in a top-six role, he has value outside that to other clubs that may be looking to improve their center depth. As mentioned, he is also phenomenal defensively and has been used before in more of a third-line role with the Flames. He has proven that in that role, he can provide some fantastic secondary scoring while maintaining his very steady defensive presence. Safe to say, if he is made available, there will be plenty of teams showing interest.
