from Travis Yost of TSN,

The cynic in me can’t help but look beyond this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs and toward free agency, where Backes, 32, will join a slew of other unrestricted free agents looking for the next payday. If you believe that recent postseason performance tends to correlate strongly with premiums paid in the subsequent free agency year (how could you not?), you have to wonder how much Backes is going to cost. You also have to wonder if the Blues could find themselves in the position of questioning whether or not it makes sense to retain their leader.

St. Louis has done a pretty nice job of managing the cap, and should have a fair bit of breathing room to acquire talent in the coming off-seasons. The $58 million already committed to next year’s team is a bit misleading when you consider that they have decisions to make on Jaden Schwartz, Troy Brouwer, Steve Ott, Kyle Brodziak,Magnus Paajarvi, and Scottie Upshall this summer, and Kevin Shattenkirk, Colton Parayko, Patrik Berglund, and Alex Steen a year from now. Not all of these players will be retained, but the overarching point is that the money available today is likely overstating what type of money will be available to retain an unrestricted free agent like Backes.

The curious part about the Backes situation from the St. Louis perspective is that his strong playoff run has masked what has been a bit of a decline in performance over the last couple of seasons. No doubt St. Louis loves his game and what he brings to the table today, but will they love what he brings a few years from now? And how much do you weigh that against St. Louis’ Stanley Cup window, which is indisputably closing?

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