from Brian Murphy of the Pioneer Press,
Niklas Backstrom loomed over the Minnesota Wild like a ghost during the 2015 NHL playoffs, his apparition relegated to breakfast workouts with scratches while season savior Devan Dubnyk and erstwhile starter Darcy Kuemper manned practice nets.
The franchise's most prolific goaltender receded into summer certain to be bought out by management eager to divest itself of the classy but oft-injured 37-year-old who had become, in the parlance of the salary cap era, excess baggage.
Make that carry-on baggage.
Backstrom was back in the crease Friday morning at Xcel Energy Center among the first Wild players to scrimmage the first day of training camp. Recovered from offseason elbow surgery that soldered him to the payroll for another season, he looked sharp in allowing just one goal in 25 minutes of the initial scrimmage.
So he's got that going for him, which is nice. But the awkwardness of Backstrom's unexpected presence is palpable, from the steady degradation of his game to the tangled timing of his operation.
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