Boston Bruins: David Backes year one review and a look forward
Coming off two straight seasons without a playoff bid, the Boston Bruins front office looked to add a veteran presence to their relatively young locker room. They found this in David Backes.
This sure was crazy when it happened. By signing David Backes, the long time captain of the Blues, Sweeney signaled a change in mindset. The Boston Bruins were no longer reloading, they were our to contend.
Instead of getting younger and faster, the Backes signing showed a team prepared to get back to the promise land right now. After year one the question remains: will this move help us get there?
Was he worth it?
So what did Backes add this year? Well, for 6 million/5 years the Boston Bruins got a big veteran center. A leader in the locker room, and someone who would contribute all over the ice.
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In all honesty, the Bruins almost got what they wanted. He was named an alternate captain, clearly showing those leadership qualities, but he didn’t quite bring it on the score sheet.
The 38 points he put up this year were his lowest totals since 2008. While this is discouraging, I would like to add that it could very well be due to his move to RW or his decrease in TOI from 19:14 to 17:07.
Despite his somewhat underwhelming season, I would say that his first year in Boston was OK. After all, I don’t think the Bruins would have made the playoffs without him.
What’ about going forward?
That being said, I definitely think I’m more against the signing than in favor of it due to the lack of vision it shows by Don Sweeney and the front office.
First of all there’s the fact that Backes is a center, and wanted to play center.
Clearly this didn’t go as planned, as Backes spent the majority of the season playing RW on Krejci’s line. If they needed depth at that position, why didn’t they just sign a RW?
Next there’s the contract. I would say this year, Backes was not worth his $6 million cap hit. For reference, Marchand will earn $6.25 million next year. Of course, that price was agreed upon before his break out year, but the point remains the same.
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Backes was overpaid from the beginning of his time with the Bruins, and this deal will only get worse as Backes ages. Remember the fact that Backes will be 37 when this contract expires. I would be shocked if he doesn’t decline before that point.
I’m all in favor of trying to win, but not if it forces the Bruins to mortgage the future.
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Let me know what you think. Backes definitely has his supporters that enjoy his ‘Big Bad Bruins’ style of play, but there also seems to be a growing group that questions whether or not he should have been signed.