Player Discussion David Backes IV

[Fenian24]

The money isn’t being used right now? I would bet a lot of money that our previous off season would have looked much different if we had that added $6m in cap space.

Sweeney had plenty of money to make a move, blaming David Backes for Sweeney's inability to improve the team this off seaon is deflecting from the real issue which is Sweeney's not improving the team.

They had the money to be in on John Tavares I'm sure there was money to make other moves.

 

[BruinsNetwork]

The money isn’t being used right now? I would bet a lot of money that our previous off season would have looked much different if we had that added $6m in cap space.

The Bruins have had about 4m in cap-space all season, so there is legitimately money that isn’t being used.

Even with Backes, the team made pitches to Tavares and Kovalchuk and had every intention of bringing them in. They sat with around 11m in space before signing Halak, Wagner and Nordstrom. Why didn’t they bring in a big name player making 6m (Backes’ cap) per-year at that time? They could have then, so no, blaming David Backes for that is irrational. The team literally has money to spend. Will this change in the summer after McAvoy, Carlo, Heinen, etc? It could, but that’s not “right now.”

The team has money to spend, and they could move a player like Kevan Miller, at 2.5m per-year, to clear space when he’s healthy if they REALLY needed to.

I’d suggest you check out capfriendly and keep in touch with the situation of the Bruins as they are projected to have well over 10m of cap-space at the deadline. The cap is prorated, so the remaining daily cap-hit on players is far less severe as the season progresses.

 

[LSCII]

Sweeney had plenty of money to make a move, blaming David Backes for Sweeney's inability to improve the team this off seaon is deflecting from the real issue which is Sweeney's not improving the team.

They had the money to be in on John Tavares I'm sure there was money to make other moves.

Did they though? And were they really serious or did they simply meet with him because he said they were a finalist and it would give them some positive press? I recall at the time they never discussed the terms of their offer, other than saying it was "competitive" whatever that means. It was pretty much assumed he was either going to stay in Long Island or end up in Toronto if he left. So were the Bruins truly in on Tavares or were they just along for the ride?

I personally don't think they were truly in it, and were there for perception's sake only.

 

[UncleRico]

The Bruins have had about 4m in cap-space all season, so there is legitimately money that isn’t being used.

Even with Backes, the team made pitches to Tavares and Kovalchuk and had every intention of bringing them in. They sat with around 11m in space before signing Halak, Wagner and Nordstrom. Why didn’t they bring in a big name player making 6m (Backes’ cap) per-year at that time? They could have then, so no, blaming David Backes for that is irrational. The team literally has money to spend. Will this change in the summer after McAvoy, Carlo, Heinen, etc? It could, but that’s not “right now.”

The team has money to spend, and they could move a player like Kevan Miller, at 2.5m per-year, to clear space when he’s healthy if they REALLY needed to.

I’d suggest you check out capfriendly and keep in touch with the situation of the Bruins as they are projected to have well over 10m of cap-space at the deadline. The cap is prorated, so the remaining daily cap-hit on players is far less severe as the season progresses.

They weren’t willing to spend big money unless it was on a star that they could justify spending money on and not signing RFAs the next couple years. After that opportunity passed, they decided not to go after mid level free agents that would get in the way of the RFAs.

If backes wasn’t signed to that $6m they would have had that money to go after guys like stasney, grabner, even Riley Nash.

 

[Rubber Biscuit]

They weren’t willing to spend big money unless it was on a star that they could justify spending money on and not signing RFAs the next couple years. After that opportunity passed, they decided not to go after mid level free agents that would get in the way of the RFAs.

If backes wasn’t signed to that $6m they would have had that money to go after guys like stasney, grabner, even Riley Nash.

Did we want them to go after guys like that?

 

[BruinDust]

Did we want them to go after guys like that?

Riley Nash's point totals since that little run he had with Pasta and Marchand ended.

GP = 31 - Zero goals, 3 assists.

Talk about a bullet dodged.

 

[UncleRico]

Did we want them to go after guys like that?

I’ll take any of those 3 guys over backes.

 

[smack66]

Sweeney had plenty of money to make a move, blaming David Backes for Sweeney's inability to improve the team this off seaon is deflecting from the real issue which is Sweeney's not improving the team.

They had the money to be in on John Tavares I'm sure there was money to make other moves.

We agree on one thing and that would be Sweeney's inability to improve the team specifically his signing of Backes which set the team back

 

[BruinDust]

I’ll take any of those 3 guys over backes.

I think the lesson here is just stay away from mid-tier UFAs in general.

 

[BruinsNetwork]

They weren’t willing to spend big money unless it was on a star that they could justify spending money on and not signing RFAs the next couple years. After that opportunity passed, they decided not to go after mid level free agents that would get in the way of the RFAs.
If backes wasn’t signed to that $6m they would have had that money to go after guys like stasney, grabner, even Riley Nash.

"They weren't willing to spend big money unless it was on a star that they could justify spending money on..."
Didn't they do this exact thing with David Backes himself? This is both kind of ironic and contradictory, don't you think? I do.

Well, considering that Grabner makes under 4m per-year and Nash makes under 3m per-year, they could have afforded both of them had they not signed Halak, Nordstrom and Wagner.

Again, the Bruins legitimately have cap-space that is unspent and have had cap-space to spend in the summer. Your argument that Backes is preventing them right now, or in the summer, to acquire a player just doesn't hold any factual or mathematical material. With all due respect, the logic is incredibly flawed in my opinion.

 

[smack66]

"They weren't willing to spend big money unless it was on a star that they could justify spending money on..."
Didn't they do this exact thing with David Backes himself? This is both kind of ironic and contradictory, don't you think? I do.

Well, considering that Grabner makes under 4m per-year and Nash makes under 3m per-year, they could have afforded both of them had they not signed Halak, Nordstrom and Wagner.

Again, the Bruins legitimately have cap-space that is unspent and have had cap-space to spend in the summer. Your argument that Backes is preventing them right now, or in the summer, to acquire a player just doesn't hold any factual or mathematical material. With all due respect, the logic is incredibly flawed in my opinion.

I agree with it this year but with our RFA's next year and Backes still being on the books its tough to make a trade this year if its not for an expiring contract or to have signed a UFA for multi years. Still think a 2nd line RW is coming but we will see at trade deadline

 

[UncleRico]

"They weren't willing to spend big money unless it was on a star that they could justify spending money on..."
Didn't they do this exact thing with David Backes himself? This is both kind of ironic and contradictory, don't you think? I do.

Well, considering that Grabner makes under 4m per-year and Nash makes under 3m per-year, they could have afforded both of them had they not signed Halak, Nordstrom and Wagner.

Again, the Bruins legitimately have cap-space that is unspent and have had cap-space to spend in the summer. Your argument that Backes is preventing them right now, or in the summer, to acquire a player just doesn't hold any factual or mathematical material. With all due respect, the logic is incredibly flawed in my opinion.

They needed to sign halak, Nordstrom and Wagner to fill out the roster and they still had glaring holes at 2nd line RW and 3rd line center. They didn’t want to sign guys similar to grabner because it wouldn’t allow them to sign future RFAs. If backes wasn’t on the roster they most certainly would have the room to sign at least one 3rd line center or a 2nd line RW and still have room to sign their RFAs.

Bruins had 3 options this off season under their

1) go after high priced player like Tavares and not sign roughly half of their RFAs next year

2) sign a 2nd line and 3rd like RW and a back up goalie

3) sign lower end guys like Wagner, Nordstrom and a back up in halak.

Without backes contract you could have done Option 2 and 3 without mortgaging the future and you could have afforded a star while not risking future RFAs

Backes contract is definitely a road block.

 

[UncleRico]

I think the lesson here is just stay away from mid-tier UFAs in general.

If backes wasn’t on this team I would have loved to sign grabner to play on the 2nd line. 27 goals each of the past two years and off to a hot start this year on a bad team.

Bruins fans are just reluctant to sign mid tier UFAs because Sweeney has been absolutely trash at signing them. Since he took over his two best UFA signings are Riley Nash and John Moore.

 

[Tbrady12]

If backes wasn’t on this team I would have loved to sign grabner to play on the 2nd line. 27 goals each of the past two years and off to a hot start this year on a bad team.

Bruins fans are just reluctant to sign mid tier UFAs because Sweeney has been absolutely trash at signing them. Since he took over his two best UFA signings are Riley Nash and John Moore.

His best non signing this summer may have also been Riley Nash for 2.75 Million for 3 years. 18 games, 2 assists.

 

[Emerz]

Backes looks decent on the 4th line but I mean at some point the man has to contribute to a goal. He's averaging very slightly over 1 shot/game, given his career shooting % he's likely only going to score between 5 and 10 goals.

 

[UncleRico]

His best non signing this summer may have also been Riley Nash for 2.75 Million for 3 years. 18 games, 2 assists.

I’d rather have Riley Nash at $2.75 and his two assists with minimal power play minutes over David Backes zero points with 2:00 of power play time a game at $6m

 

[Tbrady12]

I’d rather have Riley Nash at $2.75 and his two assists with minimal power play minutes over David Backes zero points with 2:00 of power play time a game at $6m

The point is they were right not to bring Nash back. Backes was already here.

 

[MetM]

I wish they'd have pushed harder to get Skinner..

 

[chizzler]

Did they though? And were they really serious or did they simply meet with him because he said they were a finalist and it would give them some positive press? I recall at the time they never discussed the terms of their offer, other than saying it was "competitive" whatever that means. It was pretty much assumed he was either going to stay in Long Island or end up in Toronto if he left. So were the Bruins truly in on Tavares or were they just along for the ride?

I personally don't think they were truly in it, and were there for perception's sake only.

I would think they would have to let the party know how they would fit him in and the future of the team.

 

[Over the volcano]

I think the lesson here is just stay away from mid-tier UFAs in general.

Maybe stay away from top teir UFA's. Guys like Moore and Nordstrom turned out pretty good value. Belesky and Backes were pretty close to top of their UFA class.

 

[chizzler]

I wish they'd have pushed harder to get Skinner..

Yah, now. How many were willing to take him and his injury bug on? I’m not sure even what his contract status is.

 

[LSCII]

I would think they would have to let the party know how they would fit him in and the future of the team.

I'm sure they had contingency plans in place just for the outside chance JT said yes, but I still don't think there was real hard core interest on either side. Like we'll talk because he's open to it, but we don't expect him to come here. Much like the Zach Parise "competitive offer" they sent before he signed with the wild.

 

[chizzler]

I'm sure they had contingency plans in place just for the outside chance JT said yes, but I still don't think there was real hard core interest on either side. Like we'll talk because he's open to it, but we don't expect him to come here. Much like the Zach Parise "competitive offer" they sent before he signed with the wild.

If he had a trade in place to get rid of salary, then it was legit. Big if.

 

[LSCII]

If he had a trade in place to get rid of salary, then it was legit. Big if.

There were literally a slew of things he could have done to be cap compliant. And none of them had to be done until later. So I'm sure they spoke in generalities, but again, I simply don't believe the interest was sincere on either part. I don't think JT's main point of interest was Boston, and the Bruins would have only been serious if he was going to take a large discount, which from all the other offers he got, it doesn't sound like he was. He ultimately took less to go to TO, but that's him taking less to go home and Boston wasn't home.

 

[chizzler]

There were literally a slew of things he could have done to be cap compliant. And none of them had to be done until later. So I'm sure they spoke in generalities, but again, I simply don't believe the interest was sincere on either part. I don't think JT's main point of interest was Boston, and the Bruins would have only been serious if he was going to take a large discount, which from all the other offers he got, it doesn't sound like he was. He ultimately took less to go to TO, but that's him taking less to go home and Boston wasn't home.

It makes sense. Nobody probably had a chance to get him except Toronto. Maybe he was hoping for a David Price offer he couldn’t refuse.