| Nick Obergan. 15th November, 2010 - 12:30 am
 The St. Louis Blues ? a powerhouse early in the season ? have locked up a key member of their young core, signing power forward David Backes to a five-year extension. Backes, a second round pick in 2003, was slated to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season; the deal is for a total of $22.5M, carrying a $4.5M cap hit.
Backes, 26-years old, had a career high 31 goals in 2008-09 while also registering over 200 hits; he was one of only two forwards to achieve those numbers, the other being Alexander Ovechkin. Last year, his goals dipped to 17 (and took 45 fewer shots), but he set a career high in assists with 31. While he isn?t likely to ever be a point-per-game player, he certainly has the ability to score 30 goals in any season, and that production typically earns a player in the range of $5M per season.
While he only has three goals and seven points in 15 games this season, he admitted that the contract negotiations and pending free agency were weighing on him, so hopefully now he can focus solely on hockey and get back to his goal-scoring ways.
Off of the ice, Backes is seen as a leader and veteran on this young Blues team. He is currently an assistant captain, but speculation is that he is the captain-in-waiting as current captain Eric Brewer is also an impending free agent. As the Blues continue to build with a young core, keeping Backes is a very important move, showing continuity, commitment to winning, and a willingness to spend in order to stay competitive.
If Backes had reached the open market next summer, the odds are good that he would have received an offer in the $5-$5.5M range per season. But more often than not, players are maintaining loyalty to their franchises, and are willing to work within the team?s budget and salary cap constraints. At the same time, the five-year pact is not burdensome for the franchise, and allows Backes to seek one more long-term deal when this expires at 32-years-old.
And if the situation was stressful for Backes, it was a very wise decision to work out an agreement as soon as possible so that he could focus solely on hockey. For St. Louis, this is was their most important of 15 pending free agents. Locking up such a key member on and off the ice will only help them in their abilities to retain other key members of their ever-improving young core.
Grade for Backes: B+
Grade for St. Louis: A
Nick is RealGM?s NHL Feature Writer. You can reach him by email nick.obergan@realgm.com or on twitter @NickObergan |
