It's just one game, but I thought he looked like a different player in the middle.
Sure his feet are slightly quicker, but I don't think Backes gets enough credit for his hockey sense and reads. When he's on the wing, in his own zone he's more stationary, less involved. In the neutral zone and offensive zone when the Bruins don't have the puck, he's trying to smash puck carriers and create forechecking pressure. Problem is, he isn't fast enough to beat D-men on dump-ins and force guys to make bad decisions with the puck with pressure.
Last night he let the game come to him, rather than waste energy running around trying to be uber-physical. Use his reads and Hockey IQ to get in position to make it harder for puck carriers and when he got the puck, made quick, short, simple passes to his speedier wingers.
With the gaping hole at 3rd line C and the bevy of young wingers pushing for jobs to me this should be a no-brainer for the coaching staff at least to start the season. If it doesn't work, you can always put him back at RW, but at least it was tried.