Player Discussion David Backes IV

[Fenian24]

Backes on a third lone with Schenn and Heinen or Donato would be a very effective third line. Doesn't solve 2RW or size/toughness but first, third and D would be set

 

[RussellmaniaKW]

REALITY ALERT

Our favorite whipping boy david backes has been recovering from concusion and intestine recovery the past year... in his last 82 games hes been on 3rd/4th line getting around 14 mins a night... throwing around 190 hits... faceoff % around 54%

And 16 goals/25 assists for 41 points

Remind me again why these results arent damn good for a 3rd liner?

well he's currently on the 2nd line and making 6 million. not a mystery why people want more out of him.

 

[Alberta_OReilly_Fan]

well he's currently on the 2nd line and making 6 million. not a mystery why people want more out of him.

I think some were saying he cant play on the 4th line? He needs to get sat?

Maybe read through this thread if your memory is failing you?

Im sure we can all complain hes being paid 6 mill... im only addressing people who say he sucks and isnt nhl caliber

Sorry haters... you all lose. Dude still has game

 

[Pia8988]

I think some were saying he cant play on the 4th line? He needs to get sat?

Maybe read through this thread if your memory is failing you?

Im sure we can all complain hes being paid 6 mill... im only addressing people who say he sucks and isnt nhl caliber

Sorry haters... you all lose. Dude still has game

15 points in his last 49 games played. I too can skew a sample size to fit my narrative.

 

[Alberta_OReilly_Fan]

Backes on a third lone with Schenn and Heinen or Donato would be a very effective third line. Doesn't solve 2RW or size/toughness but first, third and D would be set

How you feel about backes with kuraly?

Im not sure whats going on with peter berglund but if hes available on a 1 year cheap deal i could put him with backes/kuraly

I think giving backes a speedy second winger is important so id love to see more of him with kuraly... or let kuraly play center i guess

Is nordstrom or wagner the ideal guy to play with them?

I prefer heinen stay with the college line.

 

[RussellmaniaKW]

I think some were saying he cant play on the 4th line? He needs to get sat?

Maybe read through this thread if your memory is failing you?

Im sure we can all complain hes being paid 6 mill... im only addressing people who say he sucks and isnt nhl caliber

Sorry haters... you all lose. Dude still has game

I mean we can debate every extremely stupid statement made in this thread if you want.

Everyone here talks in extremes but the reality is he's a decent bottom 6 guy. Problem is that's not what the Bruins need right now especially at his price. I was excited to see him get another chance with Krejci and JDB and have been extremely disappointed with his play since being put on that line.

why are you only addressing the worst statements made about him? It's like shooting fish in a barrel. Ok so Backes is better than your average AHL guy. Let's say you convince everyone of that...what did you gain? who cares? He's still not the 2nd line wing we desperately need.

 

[Alberta_OReilly_Fan]

15 points in his last 49 games played. I too can skew a sample size to fit my narrative.

Is 82 games a skew? Good job picking 49 games out the backside though. 49 definitely feels like a skew to me

82 is a full season... a fairly standard measure that fans of nhl use as a common comparison

 

[Alberta_OReilly_Fan]

I mean we can debate every extremely stupid statement made in this thread if you want.

Everyone here talks in extremes but the reality is he's a decent bottom 6 guy. Problem is that's not what the Bruins need right now especially at his price. I was excited to see him get another chance with Krejci and JDB and have been extremely disappointed with his play since being put on that line.

Sadly i do agree... price point makes it hard to be a fan of backes. So many vets finish their careers these days with fans hating on them simply because of the cap

Cant blame players for taking the money but i feel bummed out my heros end up villans

 

[Pia8988]

Is 82 games a skew?

Yes. Because you can choose the number that makes him look better. He is a bottom 6 player at best, pretty bad on wing due to his skating. Unless you want him supplanting a kid on the 3rd line, he's a 4th line center on the Bruins. When you add in the context of salary, it's pretty bad.

 

[Alberta_OReilly_Fan]

Yes. Because you can choose the number that makes him look better. He is a bottom 6 player at best, pretty bad on wing due to his skating. Unless you want him supplanting a kid on the 3rd line, he's a 4th line center on the Bruins. When you add in the context of salary, it's pretty bad.

Salary i agree with

Using 82 game... i do that for everyone. Im sure i could crop or expand the number to try to skew it, but its simply the number of games in a full season so its the number i use

3rd/4th line... i am traditionalist... i like a checking 3rd line and a high energy 4th line. Give me the selke finalist backes on my 3rd line at playoff time and give me the waterbug college line on my 4th linr and ill be happy

Some people are saying backes needs to sit for wagner or accairi because 1 of them got 6 shots on net or something like that... really?

He looks bad to your eyes recovering from intestine surgury and a couple concusions and still has 41 points in 82 games... see my point.

Playing bad....? Still scoring 41 points? Too slow to keep up? Still throwing 190 hits?

Sucking but still pretty damn decent for third line?

Maybe something is being lost in translation?
Or maybe that 6 mill salary is all we can see

 

[Pia8988]

Salary i agree with

Using 82 game... i do that for everyone. Im sure i could crop or expand the number to try to skew it, but its simply the number of games in a full season so its the number i use

3rd/4th line... i am traditionalist... i like a checking 3rd line and a high energy 4th line. Give me the selke finalist backes on my 3rd line at playoff time and give me the waterbug college line on my 4th linr and ill be happy

Some people are saying backes needs to sit for wagner or accairi because 1 of them got 6 shots on net or something like that... really?

He looks bad to your eyes recovering from intestine surgury and a couple concusions and still has 41 points in 82 games... see my point.

Playing bad....? Still scoring 41 points? Too slow to keep up? Still throwing 190 hits?

Sucking but still pretty damn decent for third line?

Maybe something is being lost in translation?
Or maybe that 6 mill salary is all we can see

Backes isn't currently a selke finalist caliber player (Only even finished top 3 once 8 years ago)
He isn't playing like a guy who is going to put up 41 points.
He should replace Acciari as 4th line center. Kuraly-Backes-Wagner.

 

[Alberta_OReilly_Fan]

Backes isn't currently a selke finalist caliber player (Only even finished top 3 once 8 years ago)
He isn't playing like a guy who is going to put up 41 points.
He should replace Acciari as 4th line center. Kuraly-Backes-Wagner.

I should just agree with you because your right here

But my aguement is deeper. You will admit hes had some very serious injury issues the past 15 months?

You are looking at a snapshot on jan 12 2019 and judging his last 49 games. And based on that you are judging what might happen a week from now... a month... tomorrow?

You give me crap going back 82 games to early december of 2017. Thats when hr was just coming back from intestine surgery. Its pretty miraculous he came back from that so quickly

He plays a hard heavy games. It requires a lot of motivation. Running into 200 pound guys all night long at 20mph bruises the old man up

If you are slow to begin with... and now bruised up... it might look bad

But 190 hits is 190 hits... 41 points is 41 points

Are there some nights the war injuries slow him down? Hes not the guy i saw 5 years ago

Are there any nights hes worth 6 mill? Hell, thats alot of money

I need to support him... hes one of my favs. As you know i grabbed him for our sim keeper league

But i dare say... the numbers back me up here. I scroll through the posts. Its easy to see people saying hes untradable... he should be in pressbox on 9th floor...

41 points in last 82 games for a guy making 2 mill real cash next year after bonus is paid... untradable?

I admit hes not a top 6 guy anymore... but id like me 3 41 point big rugged defensuvely smart vets making 2 mill salary on my 3rd line please and thankyou

 

[Pia8988]

I should just agree with you because your right here

But my aguement is deeper. You will admit hes had some very serious injury issues the past 15 months?

You are looking at a snapshot on jan 12 2019 and judging his last 49 games. And based on that you are judging what might happen a week from now... a month... tomorrow?

You give me crap going back 82 games to early december of 2017. Thats when hr was just coming back from intestine surgery. Its pretty miraculous he came back from that so quickly

He plays a hard heavy games. It requires a lot of motivation. Running into 200 pound guys all night long at 20mph bruises the old man up

If you are slow to begin with... and now bruised up... it might look bad

But 190 hits is 190 hits... 41 points is 41 points

Are there some nights the war injuries slow him down? Hes not the guy i saw 5 years ago

Are there any nights hes worth 6 mill? Hell, thats alot of money

I need to support him... hes one of my favs. As you know i grabbed him for our sim keeper league

But i dare say... the numbers back me up here. I scroll through the posts. Its easy to see people saying hes untradable... he should be in pressbox on 9th floor...

41 points in last 82 games for a guy making 2 mill real cash next year after bonus is paid... untradable?

I admit hes not a top 6 guy anymore... but id like me 3 41 point big rugged defensuvely smart vets making 2 mill salary on my 3rd line please and thankyou

It will get harder and harder to come back as he gets older. You keep bringing up this number, 41 points. I’ll throw this out tuere, David Backes will never break 40 points again in his career.

 

[World of Wardlow]

He's becoming a mess

 

[BruinDust]

It's 4th line C or bust for Backes IMO.

I look back on his final playoff year in St. Louis. I watched a lot of their run to the conference finals. He was a beast. He was playing RW. He was running around smashing guys left and right.

But he can't do that anymore, the wheels just aren't there and the game is even faster now. Doesn't get there in time to hit guys along the wall. He's the king of the dump-in as he can't gain separation from back-checkers. He'll never beat a D-man wide again.

What does Backes bring to the table now besides intangibles?

1) Strong face-off man (over 56% this year)

2) Big and strong and can defend down-low and in front of his net in the defensive zone

3) Smart positional player

4) Decent passer, especially short one-touch passes

Centers now are pseudo-D-men anyways in their own zone. Let Backes act as the safety valve of the 4th line while Kuraly and Wagner are hitting everything that moves. His ability to make short passes should help the team breakout of their own zone.

 

[smack66]

I will go with my eye test that tells me he's not quite cooked but getting close and I worry about what his salary will mean for this plus the next two seasons. People calling him a rugged, heavy hitting player, sorry not seeing it. He has some hits but they tend to be insignificant and not heavy and usually keeps him out of the play because of his clear lack of foot speed.
Cherry picking his points? I will use my eye test. I think his last point was a secondary assist on the pp against the caps. It was a blind between the legs pass that hit a caps d on the stick. Luckily he didn't get control and Heinen fed it to krejci who buried it. Backes got an assist but it was closer to a turnover than being worthy of an assist. As well, when talking his points, let's remember Butch gives him in my opinion undeserved pp time

 

[cat400]

Watching Backes the last couple of games, I keep wondering if he should give Rick Nash a call regarding concussions and retirement.

Backes is no doubt a true team warrior, however is his health negating his competitive desire to keep playing?

 

[Fire Sweeney]

I think some were saying he cant play on the 4th line? He needs to get sat?

Maybe read through this thread if your memory is failing you?

Im sure we can all complain hes being paid 6 mill... im only addressing people who say he sucks and isnt nhl caliber

Sorry haters... you all lose. Dude still has game

No... he needs to be bought out or traded with retained salary. It's impossible to win in this league with ancient mummies on 3rd and 4th lines taking up so much cap space and playing minutes instead of young skilled players.

Anyone has Jeremy's account number so I can chip in a few G's ?

 

[Dr Hook]

Watching Backes the last couple of games, I keep wondering if he should give Rick Nash a call regarding concussions and retirement.

Backes is no doubt a true team warrior, however is his health negating his competitive desire to keep playing?

He looked good for a few games there, but the last three- Craps, Laffs, Toilet Seats, he has not looked good. He's seemed slow, a step behind the play, passing has been off, energy level seems off.

 

[TwineTickler]

No even strength points for the 2nd line (Backes/JD/Krech) since Backes has been put there. Flutos article today had some interesting quotes from Cassidy basically saying his decision making and speed is too slow (surprise, surprise). David may find himself riding the pine pretty soon, especially if we make a few trades to shore up the forward group which is almost a lock. He just can't hang anymore unless he's in a crash and bang roll in the 4th line... but let's be honest... he isn't better than any of the 4th line guys right now...

Hiding David Backes: Bruins may not be able to shelter their...

 

[Prince Pasta]

No even strength points for the 2nd line (Backes/JD/Krech) since Backes has been put there. Flutos article today had some interesting quotes from Cassidy basically saying his decision making and speed is too slow (surprise, surprise). David may find himself riding the pine pretty soon, especially if we make a few trades to shore up the forward group which is almost a lock. He just can't hang anymore unless he's in a crash and bang roll in the 4th line... but let's be honest... he isn't better than any of the 4th line guys right now...

Hiding David Backes: Bruins may not be able to shelter their...

actually, the last thing the bruins should do is mess with that fourth line

 

[Healthy Wrap]

I thought he was playing his best hockey before the suspension but he’s been a trainwreck the past few nights. If the Bruins trade for a 2RW, I’d like to see Backes moved to the 4th line with Kuraly and Wagner. Still not sure I entirely buy Acciari on this roster, despite that line’s recent success. Kuraly and Wagner seem to be carrying him most nights, so Backes could be a slight upgrade.

 

[TwineTickler]

actually, the last thing the bruins should do is mess with that fourth line

That's exactly what I said...

 

[BigGoalBrad]

actually, the last thing the bruins should do is mess with that fourth line

This.

I don't think any of them even a hot Kuraly are good enough to move up in the lineup and make a difference. Sure they can fill in in a pinch. Their value is playing together since that 4th line is like a 3rd right now.

It would be insane to mess with it. If that means Backes has to sit that is fine.

 

[neelynugs]

he's buyout proof due to the structure of his contract. we've speculated that maybe if he gets his bonus
this summer, you can wheel him somewhere that needs a good sized cap hit. or maybe he decides
to "hang them up" due to concussions and just collect his money. either way it's a disaster and a
complete waste of $6M for the next 2.5 years.