from Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch,

Some perspective: This postseason Backes has scored two more playoff goals than in his previous 29 playoff games combined. His career was without a playoff power play goal and a playoff game-winner headed into Round 1 against the Blackhawks. Oh, and Backes' six assists this postseason are just two shy of his previous playoff totals combined....

The contract that pays him $4.5 million per year is near its end. He is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. In late January, Post-Dispatch Blues beat writer Jeremy Rutherford reported negotiations between the Blues and Backes had been infrequent since Backes declined an extension offer of three years at approximately $5.5 million per season.

Things have changed since then. Backes' postseason play has increased his value. The Blues should be more interested in keeping him around. And Backes could find it harder to leave after this run — although receiving more money to go elsewhere tends to make that decision simple. There will be suitors if the Blues don't lock him in.

"He's got a lot of miles on his body, just from the way he's played, but he can obviously still play at a very high level," former Blues captain Dallas Drake recently said of the current captain. "He's proven that in the playoffs. You've gotta be careful writing guys off too early. There are a lot of teams that would love to have him on their roster. I'm sure whatever happens next year, whether it's St. Louis or somewhere else, he'll have plenty of candidates knocking on his door."

Backes is basically a microcosm of the Blues, a regular-season stalwart who finally scaled the playoff wall. Backes and his Blues did it together. A separation after this just wouldn't feel right.

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