During the “Saturday Headlines” segment on Sportsnet’s Hockey Night in Canada broadcast on Saturday, NHL insider Elliotte Freidman said that Washington Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom has begun talks about a contract extension directly with GM Brian MacLellan.
“I am told that [Backstrom] has begun talks with the Capitals without an agent. Now I tried that once, it didn’t go very well for me,” Friedman said. He added “I would think that that would probably be a good sign for the player and the team that they feel they can get something done together.”
Video: SportsNet
Backstrom is in the final year of his 10-year contract that carries a $6.7 million cap hit he signed in 2010.
Backstrom has missed the past two games with an upper-body injury, which could have given him some time to negotiate. Though he had assists in three consecutive games before getting hurt, he has had a down year by his standards with just four goals, 18 points, and a -3 rating in 23 games before getting injured.
The 32-year old leads the franchise with 656 career assists and the Capitals will likely make keeping him a priority as they are thin with high-end forward prospects.
Supposing the salary cap is at the projected $83.5 million next season, the Capitals have $19,969,038, which should be enough to keep Backstrom, who has expressed strong interest in re-signing in Washington.
Starting goaltender Braden Holtby can also become an unrestricted free agent on July 1 and, like Backstrom, can sign an extension for up to eight years up to that point.
By Harrison Brown
Sign him up. Caps without Backstrom would be disaster.
True story.
Backy says DC is his favorite city. I would be shocked if he didn’t get a deal done.
Hooray for Backstrom
Sports agents are thieves. Ovechkin operates without one, keeps all his revenue within the family (the industry hates him for this). Backstrom is wise to follow Ovechkin’s lead. And he has earned it with his consistency.
Down year for Nicklas Backstrom? I disagree. Backstrom is as effective as usual. Ovechkin and Backstrom are both “minus” players at even strength, but the beginning of the season featured blowout losses while the coaching staff “Figured it out.” Caps are 16-4. Nobody is having a bad year.
GMBM should sign Backstrom and pay him what he wants. It will likely be a team-friendly package as Nick would want to win more Stanley Cups rather than milk the Caps for Kroner.
Ovi did it, right? His mom called the shots.
If Backstrom pocketed the 20% he has to give an agent, he could sign for $7 million per, and be making same as if he signed for $8.5 million, but had to pay agent like others mostly do. That’s how you get a hometown discount done.
There comes a time when the core players have to decide their worth to their present team. One or two players cannot gobble up the all the cap money if ever. The Washington franchise in the not to distance will be playing with Ovie and Backy. After this 2019 season do the Caps begin to rebuild their roster for future years ahead instead of signing their present superstar players to long term contracts.
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