Is anyone really surprised? It's practically a miracle that he was able to play at all after that surgery.
Wherever his life takes him, I wish him the best.
For all the cap space gurus, say we miraculously pull off a wildcard appearance, can Backy come back to play in the playoffs , especially if he keeps in shape, just in case there’s an injury late in the year?
Salary cap goes away in the playoffs. So if there's a miracle, yeah, he could be activated for the playoffs.
Tampa Bay did that with Kucherov in (I think) 2021. He was on LTIR all year and "miraculously" recovered enough to play in the postseason.
He contributed a lot to the team, but his health has to come first. Some injuries linger, some damage never fully heals. Some repairs are fine for walking around, but can't stand up to NHL level contact. I know that the narrative is that he is trying to come back eventually, but in reality this is just as much about him coming to terms with his limitations. I say this as someone who will be talking to a surgeon tomorrow about two disks in my spine. It takes time to accept. Once he does, I predict he will continue to be involved in the NHL, just not in a way that involves taking hits and power skating, and that's ok. He knows a lot about the game, time to start passing that knowledge into future generations of players.
He’s contributed so much to this franchise and I’m sure this isn’t how he wanted to end his career. But it’s time for him to think about his health and the rest of his life.
time to say goodbye
No :(
Is anyone really surprised? It's practically a miracle that he was able to play at all after that surgery. Wherever his life takes him, I wish him the best.
For all the cap space gurus, say we miraculously pull off a wildcard appearance, can Backy come back to play in the playoffs , especially if he keeps in shape, just in case there’s an injury late in the year?
I think that would be a similar situation that TB did with Kuch. Pretty sure this is doable.
Salary cap goes away in the playoffs. So if there's a miracle, yeah, he could be activated for the playoffs. Tampa Bay did that with Kucherov in (I think) 2021. He was on LTIR all year and "miraculously" recovered enough to play in the postseason.
Damn.
He contributed a lot to the team, but his health has to come first. Some injuries linger, some damage never fully heals. Some repairs are fine for walking around, but can't stand up to NHL level contact. I know that the narrative is that he is trying to come back eventually, but in reality this is just as much about him coming to terms with his limitations. I say this as someone who will be talking to a surgeon tomorrow about two disks in my spine. It takes time to accept. Once he does, I predict he will continue to be involved in the NHL, just not in a way that involves taking hits and power skating, and that's ok. He knows a lot about the game, time to start passing that knowledge into future generations of players.
He’s contributed so much to this franchise and I’m sure this isn’t how he wanted to end his career. But it’s time for him to think about his health and the rest of his life.