After a decade with the team that drafted him, former St. Louis Blues captain David Backes will be taking his talents to the Boston Bruins.
JUST IN: @NHLBruins sign F David Backes to a one-year contract. Details on TSN.ca. #TSNHockey pic.twitter.com/dgc0Lnc2Ot
— SportsCentre (@SportsCentre) July 1, 2016
The 32-year old agreed to a five-year, $30 million contract today, with an AAV of $6 million, an increase in his previous contract that he signed back in 2010 that paid him $4.5 million per campaign.
To the Bruins, Backes brings an experienced, top nine presence that will play a gritty two-way game with some scoring mixed in. Six of the last seven seasons excluding the lockout-shortened 2013, he’s scored at least 20 goals with four 50+ point seasons in that span. In 2015-16, he scored 21 more goals and added 45 points, the first time he failed to get to 50 since 2009-10. He saved his best for the postseason however, having the best run of his career with seven goals and 14 points in 20 games. Before this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, in 29 career contests he netted five markers and just 13 points. In a recent “30 Thoughts” post, Elliotte Friedman was told by a player that dueled against Backes in the playoffs before that if you could get in his head you could drag him down for the rest of the series. This postseason however, he said it was way harder to do. With two overtime winners and the fact that the Blues finished two wins from a Stanley Cup Final appearance, Backes appeared to be more focused than ever.
Defensively, Backes has averaged 35 takeaways the last four seasons after averaging 46 the previous four seasons. In the dot, coming off of a career year at 55% in 2014-15, Backes won 52% of his draws this season. For advanced stat fanatics, Backes has averaged a 53% CF% in his career, posting a 51% mark this past season. He has been known to take some bad penalties during his time in the League, but in 2015-16, he took just 83 penalty minutes in 79 games played, the lowest total since his rookie year in 2006-07 when he took 37 in 49 contests.
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