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The Calgary Flames have extended 24 year old centre, Mikael Backlund, to a two year $3M extension yesterday. The young forward was nearing salary arbitration given that the team seemingly waiting until the last minute to sign him.
This was a good signing for the team with a $1.5M CAP hit as it allows the player two years to prove his worth in this league. Backlund has a lot of potential, although it has yet to be realized. Mikael has played 170 games with the Flames so far in his NHL career, and has registered but 62pts. The Swedish native has shown a little difficulty getting on the scoreboard and really establishing himself as a centre in the league, however there are many things about Backlund’s game that do not make your typical scoresheet which should be discussed.
Over the last couple of years, advanced stats have really started to take over in many player discussions/comparisons around the league as it allows coaches, GM’s, writers and fans to explore or analyze each player further than they could with typical game per game stats. With that being said, I thought it would be a good idea to evaluate Mikael Backlund a little further and perhaps try and make an objective case as to what this centre could bring to the Flames organization down the road.
As I mentioned, Backlund is a young centre in this league and still has a lot to prove and it’s important to look at as many aspects of each players game as they develop in order to assess whether or not we can expect production from them down the road.
Below I will be listing some advanced stats for Mikael Backlund during the 2012-2013 season, as his most recent season should be considered most relevant, in my opinion. Despite recent injuries, Backlund was doing quite well in his development even though his point totals were somewhat low. The stats I will be using will be as follows (I will provide a glossary of each stat to help explain them all for those who are not up to date with advanced stats).
iFenwick – 103rd Overall – Similar Players: Hossa, Hodgson, Kunitz, Clowe
iCorsi – 104th Overall – Similar Players: Saad, Grabner, Kopitar
iFenwick/60 – 10th Overall – Similar Players: Gallagher, Ovechkin, Clarkson
iCorsi/60 – 11th Overall – Similar Players: Brunner, Carter, Neal, Kessel
Shots/60 – 10th Overall – Similar Players: Williams, Frolik, Seguin, Parise
Shots – 71st Overall – Similar Players: Hodgson, Pavelski, Franzen, Backes
IPP – 39th Overall – Similar Players: Duchene, Wilson, Kadri, Torres
Glossary:
iFenwick - Individual Fenwick - The number of fenwick events a player takes (shots + shots that missed the net)
iCorsi - Individual Corsi - The number of corsi events a player takes (shots + shots attempts that missed the net or were blocked)
iFenwick/60 – per 60 minutes of play
iCorsi/60 – per 60 minutes of play
Shots/60 – Shots taken per 60 minutes of play
IPP - Individual Points Percentage - The percentage of goals scored by players team while player is on the ice that the player had a point on.
What should be taken away from these stats? Well, although Backlund did not fair too well in terms of overall point production this past season, his iFenwick/iCorsi totals were rather high compared to the rest of the league meaning his opportunities were there. If you consider the amount of shots and quality of shots taken, we should begin to see an increase in point totals as he develops more confidence and is provided with stronger wingers.
Backlund is still a young and somewhat unproven centreman in this league, however it appears that he may have a lot more to offer to the Calgary Flames when dissecting his overall stats, and not just his point totals. I will be paying close attention to Mikael this year as it should be an important season for him as he proves to his team, coaches, and GM whether or not he is the real deal.
That’s all for today folks, thanks for reading!
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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