The Flames have had preliminary talks with agent J.P. Barry regarding a contract extension with center Mikael Backlund, GM Brad Treliving told Sportsnet 960 in Calgary. He noted that hopes that talks will pick up once the arbitration hearings finish off over the next couple of weeks. Considering that his contract doesn’t expire until next July, Treliving added that there’s no immediate rush to get something done:
“There’s no time pressure at this point right now. But we think Mikael is a really good player, an important player here, and we’d like to see if there’s a way to get something done and we’ll explore that.”
Backlund is entering the final season of a three-year deal that carries a cap hit of $3.575MM and is coming off a strong season for Calgary, one where he posted a career high in goals (22), assists (31), and points (53) which ranked him third in team scoring. Between that and the fact that centers are in high demand and short supply, he has positioned himself nicely for a sizable raise on this next contract whether it’s finalized this summer or later on.
Another center that is in need of a new contract is restricted free agent Sam Bennett. The 21-year-old is coming off his entry-level contract and struggled in his second full NHL season; his offensive numbers actually declined from his rookie campaign down to just 13 goals and 13 assists in 81 regular season games. He was ineligible for arbitration this time around and Treliving cautioned that it may take some time before they come to terms on a new contract:
“We continue to work at it. We’ll see. Those are interesting. If you look back here in the history – not just with our team, but really throughout the league of some of those players coming out of their entry-level contracts – history has shown that they tend to take a little bit of time.”
While a lot of teams have eschewed bridge deals in recent years, Bennett’s case is one where it still would make a lot of sense. Clearly, the Flames believe the former fourth overall pick from 2014 still has a lot of upside to offer but given the step back he took in 2016-17, the prudent move here may be to go for a short-term contract to get a longer look at what they have before committing the bigger money and term.
After inking goalies Jon Gillies and David Rittich to new deals on Saturday, Bennett is one of three remaining restricted free agents that the Flames need to re-sign. The other two are defensemen Brett Kulak and Tyler Wotherspoon.