BACKLUND A CORE PIECE IN CALGARY

Mikael Backlund may have been the one assured of a nice pay bump over the ensuing six years, but Brad Treliving looked like the guy who'd just heard his 50/50 number called.
"He's an important player,'' said the Calgary Flames' general manager, having polished off a lengthy extension for the valuable Swedish centreman. "He's a part of the culture, the DNA, of our team.
"He looks after himself. He plays in a lot of situations, on both sides of the puck. Plays a premier position.
"He fits here. This is a guy who helps you win. We've locked up a core piece of our team.
"It's a great day.
"To get this done is a big piece of business."

And how.
The six-year agreement, worth an average of $5.35 million a season, keeps the versatile centreman in Flaming C livery until he turns 34.
"He'll be grey by the time (the contract's) over,'' joked Treliving. "But I'm not worried: He's got a lot of hockey left in him."
The 24th overall selection in 2007, Backlund has developed into one of the league's top two-way centres and continues to make big strides season after season.
"I think he's a perfect example of patience, of us being patient with young players but also with him being patient in finding the right role.
"I'll be honest, when I got here I didn't know that much about him. I knew Mikael Backlund was a pretty good player. Now that I've been around him three years, I've discovered he'd be a hard guy to live without.
"To build a good team, you don't lose top players. You add to them. Versus chasing trying to replace then and then add.
"And it's not just - okay, you've been here a long time so you get to stay. He helps you win. I've been very clear that you build teams through the middle of the ice. (Sean) Monahan, Backlund, (Mark) Jankowski, Sam Bennett … you can never have enough centres and defencemen.
"The other piece is that he really wanted to be in Calgary. As he says, this is like home to him, which was a big part of it, too."