you accidentally clicked on chris tanev instead of rasmus andersson

No chance Sabres do that. 0

Leafs decline; homer overpay for backlund, a decent (but nothing special) 3C

What this guy said.

Leafs decline.

Calling Backlund a nothing special 3C tells me you watch him a maximum of twice a year. He's not flashy, I'd give you that, and he's not an elite finisher, but he's a very good 2C.

Here's why:

If we go by points for centers he was 38th last year. Okay, but points don't tell the entire story... he's 8th in +/-, but +/- is such a terrible stat. Okay, let's go with xG% 5on5, he's 15th in the league among forwards with an xG% of 60.1%. He's also 8th in Corsi, and 5th in Fenwick among forwards.

You could argue he had a career year as a 34 year old, but then you can't say age is a factor. Finally, those numbers have been representative of Backlund over at least the last 5 years. He gets the toughest defensive assignments, yet still pushes the puck up the ice and generates chances.

Not trying to say backlund wasn’t good (but I can see why you took it that way, my bad) but just an unreasonable cost to acquire. 2 of our top 3 prospects in high value positions (centre + RHD) + 3rd. When you are in the league as long as backlund, the numbers are what they are - he’s a 40-50 point guy who is responsible defensively, a 3C. Maybe one of the league’s better 3C’s but still a 3C, also a pending UFA and 34 as you point out. Good player but the ask was astronomically too high imo