Calgary is looking for quality not quantity.

Yeah I'm just not sure what your really getting for a 34yr old with a full cap hit of 5.3mil...he would be good for a weaker team in the middle 6 but bottom 6 on most contenders. Still useful ofcourse, but alot of older players that are still useful are getting buyouts because there's no takers...

Look at what Ryan O'Reilly got in Feb this year. Sure that was a huge overpay but if fast declining O'Reilly can fetch a haul like that Backlund who shows no signs of decline yet will fetch at least a late 1st and probably more at the deadline.

I see that a reach forsure, O'Reilly got the return he did(indeed an extreme overpay) for what he's been capable of in the playoffs before with the cup year and mvp, not for what he did this year. Backlund is no Ryan O'Reilly, never has been in this career. He is a solid 200ft player though and would look good on a 3rd line for most teams.

The other thing is the NHL cap. So many teams are absolutely crunched for next year, goodluck finding someone capable of fitting him in, even at 50% retained. Let alone a team that will pay top pricing for him..

Again I point to O'Reilly as an example the spend to the cap Leafs managed to fit O'Reilly in and his cap hit was quite a bit more than Backlund's.

Guess we'll see