The David Backes contract provides the Boston Bruins with an immovable contract. With it, they have been unable to bring back restricted free agents, Brandon Carlo and Charlie McAvoy.
In the 2016 NHL off-season, the Boston Bruins let veteran winger Loui Eriksson walk, as he signed a big deal in Vancouver. To replace his presence, they signed former St. Louis Blues captain, David Backes to an equally large contract, but for an extra year.
Both of those deals have gone down the drain real fast, and both teams are desperately looking to move on from those contracts. What options do the Bruins have?
Trade Him
The seemingly easy thing to do is move his contract to another team willing to take the cap. There are a few teams out there who have the cap space to take his deal in as well. Not to mention, there have been a few trades where big contracts have been shipped off, such as James Neal, Milan Lucic and Patrick Marleau. But there’s a catch.
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First off, no team wants to do the Boston Bruins a favor. Even if they’re in a different division or conference, nobody wants to help Boston in any way, shape or form. That would lead to the Bruins adding an asset to go along with David Backes to whatever team he gets traded to.
Second, how did those other big contracts get moved? James Neal was a bad deal that was sent to Edmonton for Milan Lucic. Lucic was a bad deal that got traded for Neal. They cancel each other out, ultimately. As for Marleau, the Toronto Maple Leafs General Manager, Kyle Dubas had to add a first-round draft pick to his end of the deal to make it work.
Boston Bruins GM Don Sweeney likely wouldn’t want to add a first-round selection, as the upcoming draft classes are very strong. He also wouldn’t want to ship David Backes off for an equally bad contract, as that would defeat the purpose of moving Backes to begin with. Trading his deal may not be the best idea.
What Else?
It’s clear there aren’t many options left for the Boston Bruins when it pertains to the David Backes deal. The buy-out window has already passed the Bruins by. Even if they had an opportunity, he has such a big signing bonus that it wouldn’t make financial sense for GM Don Sweeney to buy his contract out. It comes down to one final option.
Bury him in the AHL with the Providence Bruins; they’re still going to have to pay him $4M, but it still would save the Bruins some money for this season.
Not to mention the benefits that come with burying Backes. He’s a veteran leader in the locker-room. He will be around young up-and-coming prospects such as Jakub Zboril, Jacob Forsbacka-Karlsson, Anders Bjork and more. He is the ultimate leader and could help guide those prospects to take that next step in their careers.
While this isn’t the best solution, it makes the most sense, provides the most positives and is the easiest to accomplish.