Blues Re-Sign David Backes to Five Year Deal
by gallagher on Nov 12, 2010 12:27 PM CST
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PrintThe St. Louis Blues have reported on their site that forward David Backes has been re-signed for five more years. Reports are that the contract is a $4.5 million/year cap hit and that it has a no-trade clause. Backes is in his fifth professional season, scoring 73 goals and 162 points in 296 NHL games, all with the Blues. He was a second round pick of the Note back in 2003. The American has played for Team USA in the Olympics and many feel he is the Blues Captain-In-Waiting at this point of his career.
Here are the pros of the deal:
- Backes is one of the faces of the franchise and the 26-year-old is likely just entering his prime. An unrestricted free agent this summer, the Blues avoided losing him for nothing or being put in the awkward position of having to trade him if negotiations weren't going well.
- This is not only good for the team to have a good young player stay with this team, but it's a fan-friendly move as well. One of the more popular Blues, losing No. 42 would have been tough on a fanbase that has suffered plenty over the last few years.
Here are the cons of the deal:
- This management loves handing out contracts of $4 million-plus. Barret Jackman, Brad Boyes, Eric Brewer and now David Backes have all been given long-term $4 million-plus deals. It'd becoming a standard in St. Louis and could become a problem when this next load of youngsters come up for contract negotiations. Backes has only had one truly outstanding statistical season, 2008-09, when he scored 31 goals and had 54 points. That's a lot of cash for a guy who has hit 30 once and never been close to 60 points in a season.
- I hate no-trade clauses. I don't know what drives David Backes and if he has the internal fire to motivate himself to reach the next level of NHL greatness, but I think we can all point to examples around the NHL where no-trade clauses have backfired. NTCs breed complacency. I hope that's not an issue ever here.
Go ahead and break out your 42 jerseys, Blues fans, because he's here to stay.
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This news is nothing short of Inglourious.
“Ken Jennings won every game of Jeopardy because he put ‘David Backes’ as the answer to Final Jeopardy, and David Backes is never wrong.”
I can finally get that third sweater stitched with a 42 without trepidation. And hopefully I get to put a C on it next year.
St. Louis Game Time . . . I need another beer.
And I can also write things in 140 characters or fewer.
My near future
plan is the same. My biggest reason for the repetitive jersey foul I commit with my Patel jerseys is because I’ve always been hesitant to get a player name out of fear that it would become a “former” jersey. Patel will NEVER belong to anyone but the Blues, and now I can be fairly confident in the same for Captain America.
by k10patel on Nov 12, 2010 6:57 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
Four words:
Also, I love the bright red banner on the site like a severe weather warning. “WARNING: DAVID BACKES HAS RE-SIGNED. CANADIANS IN YOUR AREA MIGHT BE KNOCKED ON THEIR ASS. WARNING EXPIRES IN POSSIBLY FIVE YEARS, MAYBE LONGER.”
Thrashing the Blues
SB Nation Atlanta - home of the Fairest and Weatheriest fans on the net.
Reporter: There`s a "stamp out the Beatles movement" underway in Detroit. What are you going to do about it?
Paul McCartney: We`re going to start a campaign to stamp out Detroit.
by hildymac on Nov 12, 2010 12:52 PM CST reply actions 1 recs
I'm a fan
But here’s me stealing Average Joe’s thunder:
David Backes is a good player, he’s an important player for this team and an emerging face of the franchise. But his production on the ice last year and so far this season has not earned him this much money. You pay players who score this much money. Backes has not shown he can consistently do that to this point.
But I’m still a fan and want him with the team long term.
www.stlouisgametime.com
i think he would get 4.5 Mil on the open market....
I hope he can turn it up a notch and become a consistent 30 + goal scorer.
You pay players who score this much money.
Andy Mac: 4.7 mil a year, 6 points
Brad Boyes: 4 mil a year, 5 points
Eric Brewer: 4.25 mil a year, 0 points
David Backes? 6 points. It looks like the Blues think the going rate for that type of production is about 4 mil a year. Matt D’Agostini has eight points, he must be worth 5 mil a year.
Glad to have him back, hope he starts to produce. Otherwise this could be another bad contact like the three I just mentioned.
St. Louis Game Time Fact: Morning links are part of a well-balanced meal.
SBNSTL Writing about the Blues in more than one line is tough.
^this^
I’d feel a whole lot more comfortable with this deal and NTC if Backes had back to back years of good production and no slow starts.
Just a chew toy for the hockey gods
with Backes we aren't just paying for points
though more points are always welcome
http://www.stlouisgametime.com/
We're paying him 30 goal money
I appreciate the leadership and snarl he brings but not at that price if he can’t consistently score. I don’t want to exeperience Boyes2
Just a chew toy for the hockey gods
No, 30 goal money is slightly higher. 5+
I think the contract is pretty spot on. He didn’t take a real discount, but didn’t get overpaid.
Proud member of the Popsicle Division of the Cupcake Conference.
Let's see if he can even do 20+ this year
Then tell me how great that contract is.
Just a chew toy for the hockey gods
Thing is, though...
Boyes, Brewer and McDonald’s contracts are all up either this season or next, IIRC. And if those guys hadn’t got paid when they did by the Blues, they’d have gotten paid somplace else.
You could probably make a prertty strong case that the Blues wouldn’t be at this point in the rebuild without the production of those three players at various times in the last three years or so.
Nothing good is easy, and nothing worth having comes cheap.
"If we do not prepare for ourselves the role of the hammer, there will be nothing left but that of the anvil."
-- Otto von Bismarck, 1851
http://futurenotes.blogspot.com
by Tomorrows Blues on Nov 12, 2010 3:25 PM CST up reply actions
averagejoe I was thinking the same thing until......
I realized we might be overpaying a bit……but not $100 million dollars of overpaying……..
This contract in now way shape or form hampers our ability to go out next summer and try to add that top 6 forward……..if they dont all resign first……
I still maintain Vladimir Konstantinov got what he deserved...If you can't handle that then kiss my ass......
"I've got a bad feeling about this..."
Backes is the modern day Brian Sutter
Physicallity and leadership > stats
Look back at Sutter’s stats- nothing to write home about (especially in that wide open era when the goalies sucked ass). But #11 hangs from the rafters at the STC nonetheless.
by forgetyerskatesdream on Nov 12, 2010 1:06 PM CST reply actions 2 recs
^^ This ^^
I think David Backes would walk through fire for this team and this city. That kind of heart doesn’t always show up on the scoresheet, but it often shows up in the rafters of NHL arenas.
"If we do not prepare for ourselves the role of the hammer, there will be nothing left but that of the anvil."
-- Otto von Bismarck, 1851
http://futurenotes.blogspot.com
by Tomorrows Blues on Nov 12, 2010 3:27 PM CST up reply actions
how are you feeling today? lol
I fell asleep with my ear folded over so now my ear fucking hurts.
First they thought I was ASD, and then ADHD, and after a few years of having MD, they told me that I am probably EI. But all I know for sure is that I have TS... Fuck it, just call me alphabet soup.
I couldn't sleep I have been up for over 24 hours now... idk if this will end well... lol
WWTJD?
by RealBadRobot on Nov 12, 2010 6:12 PM CST up reply actions
Booze keeps me awake. Caffeine, booze and the black stuff that covers my heart and stops me from feeling things does a pretty good job of keeping me going. Fight through it trooper.
He raged at the world, at his family, at his life. But mostly he just raged.
Jay McClement for Selke in 2011. Justice will be served. Penalties will be killed.
the majority of people commenting on TSN think the Blues paid way too much....
Like forgetyerskates said…this guy has a lot of Sutter like qualities in him; you can’t just look at the stats….i think he’s worth it. I’ll be glad to see him punishing guys and scoring for the next five years; i know he’ll do the punishing regardless, i hope for more goals though.
Backes
is worth more than statistics.
And I tell you – I’m loving our GM at the moment.
BLUE SKIES - new St Louis Blues hockey blog.
"Hello...I'm the Doctor. Basically....run."
"There's one thing you never put in a trap, if you're smart, if you value your continued existence, if you have any plans about seeing tomorrow, there's one thing you never, ever put in a trap...ME."
The Eleventh Doctor - he's da man!
Good
Now start scoring and earn that paycheck.
by Both Hawks Suck! on Nov 12, 2010 1:37 PM CST reply actions
That pic is misleading
Teeej flattened Krijec, not Backes. There’s got to be at least one pic out there of DB drilling someone.
Just a chew toy for the hockey gods
That's not Oshie or Krejci
It’s obviously Backes drilling Nathan Horton. Just look at their numbers (or faces).
by forgetyerskatesdream on Nov 12, 2010 3:17 PM CST up reply actions
Okay Horton, my bad
The confusion was from my request for a pic when Teej cranked Krejci and someone posted that Norton pic in the Boston GDT followup.
16, 18 they look same after you turn fiddy.
Just a chew toy for the hockey gods
Backes
Hopefully this motivates him to produce, knowing Brewer’s contract is almost up and somebody needs to take charge and take control of the big C next year. Glad to hear he’s staying.
by IngloriousBackes on Nov 12, 2010 2:01 PM CST reply actions
If Backes doesn't start scoring,
then he will become Eric Brewer in my opinion. Brewer has played better this year and my hatred for him has gone down considerably, but if Backes doesn’t start scoring like he should, all my hatred that I had for Brewer will be all on Backes. Brian Sutter was a consistent 30 goal scorer with a couple of 40 goal seasons and 80 point seasons, so where Backes and Sutter may have the same heart, Backes does not come close to what Sutter produced on the scoresheet, at least to this point. If Backes is a bust, like he has been for this season and last season, then we will be screwed.
In the post-lockout era...
Brian Sutter would have been a consistent 20-goal scorer with a couple 30-goal seasons.
(Side note… it kinda bothers me that Sudsy hasn’t shown up for any of the recent spate of jersey retirements and “Ex-Player Nights”. I know he’s busy taming the wilds of Alberta and ignoring broken bones for weeks on end and all, but I really hope there aren’t any lingering hard feelings over the decision to fire him as coach, or other grudges that keep him away from the rest of the alumni.)
I don't think...
you can say that about Sutter. My point is Backes has to be a consistent 30 goal scorer or a 60 point producer or this deal is a bust. And until he becomes that, he can not be in the same sentence as Brian Sutter. Sutter was tough as nails and would skate through a brick wall for his teammates, like Backes, but he would consistently produce on the score sheet as well. It’s time for Backes to do the same.
Give Backes a couple dozen enemy goaltenders...
… who stay on their feet and consider “putting on the pads” a good workout, and he’ll pot 30+ every year. Conditioning and training and technique are all light-years ahead of where they were in Sutter’s era.
I want to see Backes contribute in the box score, too; but it’s unrealistic to hold him to the offensive standards of a guy whose career ran through the whole of the goals-gone-wild era.
by BleedBlue42 on Nov 12, 2010 10:13 PM CST up reply actions
Backes on the wing?
The who does the the kmox post-game, wheeler I think is his name, was thinking he would like to see Backes on the wing and MacDonald moved back to center. Does anyone else have an opinion on this? With Perron and Oshie out, I would think now would be the time to try it.
by Chingasos on Nov 12, 2010 4:57 PM CST via mobile reply actions
I hate this point.
Backes played center in college, started at wing with the Blues and had his breakout season at center. Fans, writers, and experts want to keep making excuses for Backes and McDonald, the fact is they are not producing and it is not because of the position. There really isn’t a major difference anymore between center and wing with all of the skating. Also, Brad Boyes was a center at the start of his career, so we have 3 players who were brought up playing center, along with Oshie and Berglund who are also natural centers. McDonald and Backes just aren’t as good as everyone thought they were.
Did Backes wronghole your girlfriend/wife/sister/mother/grandmother
at some point?
by Washoo on Nov 12, 2010 5:47 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
No i love the guy,
but would you buy a Jeep Wrangler for $50,000? I would say a car that most people would have fun with, but isn’t considered top of the line. I’m just saying we can’t afford to give long-term contracts with relatively lots of money to players who under perform. We will see over the next 3 months if this deal was worth it. Is Backes worth 2 million more since he last signed a contract with us? He may have been able to get 4-4.5 million on the market, but he isn’t worth more than 3-3.5 million. I want a cup, not a lot of hits and fights. We need a big time scorer and I just hope that contracts like these will not keep us from attaining a scorer. We have a goalie and the defense to win, but our offense is lacking. Backes needs to earn his check and become a consistent 30 goal scorer, its that simple.
Here's my thought.
So like was said above, Brewer is up after the season, Boyes also or after next. Jaxx is two and McDonald as well. I’d say it would be a stretch that we keep Brewer after this season. If we do I’d think it would be for about $2mil 2.5 tops. If Boyes doesn’t start producing again, the same thing will happen with him I believe if he’s even here that long. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him being shopped around again this season.
That would free up some money there. I think the deal with Backes is just about perfect for him and the Blues. I agree that Backes could have gotten between 4 and 4.5 on the market, so it makes sense. The Blues keep a fan favorite and someone who puts butts in seats, and Backes keeps playing for the only team he ever has. Its win win in my humble opinion.
Barret Jackman is my hero.
Fueled. These new shores burn. Shadow, my sweet shadow, to you I look no more.
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