Backlund To The Rockets?

[Scout]

Courtesy Alan Caldwell

Thursday, December 18, 2008

One more bit of news today, but it's a doozy. According to a story in a Swedish newspaper, top NHL prospect Mikael Backlund has been threatened with dismissal from his Swedish Elite league team if he doesn't perform well at the upcoming WJCs.

Now, Backlund was the star for the Swedes at the WJCs last year and is thought by the Calgary Flames (who picked him in the first round of the 2007 NHL draft) to be very close to NHL-ready, so there's no reason to believe he can't be a dominant player for the Swedes again. He & Oscar Moller should team up to score a lot of points for the Swedes in Ottawa. But the threat is an interesting one, especially with Flames G.M. Darryl Sutter pointing out that there's other places they can find for Backlund to play.

Like, maybe, Kelowna. The Rockets picked Backlund in the 2007 import draft and still own his rights. Wouldn't that be a huge bonus for the Rockets.....they'd have to get rid of one of their two current imports to make room for Backlund but I don't think they'd have a problem parting with Lukas Matejka in order to make room for a 1.5 point per game player like Backlund should be.

Or....the Hitmen have an open import spot, maybe the Flames would like to see Backlund playing under their noses in Calgary. In that case, the Rockets should be able to extort a pretty decent price from the Hitmen for Backlund's rights. Could be interesting.

Scout

[Malc]

By Larry Fisher

Rumours are swirling and recent reports indicate Backlund may look to stay in Canada and play junior after representing Sweden again at the world juniors in Ottawa.

Rockets president and general manager Bruce Hamilton confirmed the possibility exists, but also said he was not holding his breath on Backlund.

“We‘re on it, and I‘ve been on this for a long time,” Hamilton said. “A lot of people laughed at us when we drafted him and said that we would never get him. And we‘ve waited and waited... and we‘ve been close to getting him a couple times already, but didn‘t get him. We‘ll just have to wait and see what happens after the world juniors, likely.”

Hamilton said his outlook is unrelated to a story that‘s surfaced in Sweden saying Backlund‘s team, Vasteras, is not happy with his play of late.

The talented 19-year-old centre has four goals and four assists this season, and he‘s playing in a third-line role despite producing offensively in last season‘s playoff run.

According to a Calgary Sun article on Thursday, one source said the Flames aren‘t happy with how little Backlund has been used, losing ice time because team officials believe he intends to play in North America next season.

“It‘s all development,” said Hamilton, adding he met with Flames GM Darryl Sutter when the Rockets were in Calgary last Sunday. “From what I understand, there‘s a belief that getting 36 games or so in here after Christmas and getting a chance to play with guys like (Jamie) Benn and (Colin) Long would be real good for him. Just to go through a little adversity of playing over here and travelling hard, and then getting into the playoffs and seeing what it‘s like.”

Benn and Rockets defenceman Tyler Myers will get an up close and personal look at their potential teammate tonight, when Team Canada faces Team Sweden in the first of three exhibition games.

http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/stories_local_sports.php?id=154094