Mikael Backlund

At the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, the Calgary Flames originally has the 18th overall pick going into the draft. After the Rangers selected Alexei Cherepanov with the 17th overall pick, Gary Bettman announced that the Flames had traded the pick to the St.Louis Blues for the 24th overall pick and the 70th overall pick. Sutter did this because of one of two things, either St.Louis wanted the 18th pick to make sure they got D, Ian Cole or I think the Flames were targeting C Colton Gillies who had been taken at the 16 pick by the Minnesota Wild. Sutter loves WHL guys and Gillies has a ton of speed. I think Gillies was exactly the guy the Flames were looking for. But we didn't get him o well.

Then at the 24th overall pick the Flames announced that they selected C Mikael Backlund.

Backlund played for Vasteras IK in the Swedish Division-2 hockey league. He appeared in 18 games with Vasteras IK, accounting for 1 goal and 2 assists for 3 points. He played the first part of the season with the Vasteras IK J20 team where he played in 7 games accounting for 5 goals and 4 assists for 9 points. Later in the year, Backlund was selected to play for Sweden's national team in the Under-18 World Junior Championship. From what I have heard he played great there, and it really helped in his rankings for the NHL draft. He played in all 6 games and had 6 goals and 7 points. Backlund is a speedy center with good hockey IQ. He has soft hands and excellent passing ability. He sees the ice well and is able to create opportunities for his teammates, has a strong shot and a nose for the net.

From TSN: "Swedish forward Mikael Backlund is a smart, hard-working, two-way winger who understands the game at both ends of the ice and who, according to our survey, is entrenched as no worse than a mid-first round pick. But the X factor on the playmaking Swede is the knee problem he experienced this season. He eventually required knee surgery but he was able to bounce back from that and most scouts are encouraged it's not going to be a major issue. He certainly played well at the Under-18 tourney last summer."

I think this is an excellent pick for the Flames and I cant believe that he slipped all the way to the 24th pick, right into our hands. I had him going 13th overall in my mock draft and he was projected to go in the top 15 maybe even top 10. He has been compared to Forsberg or Zetterberg and that would be amazing if he pan's out to be one of those types of players. Very, very good pick for the Flames.

Other draft picks by the Flames:
70th- John Negrin, D, Kootenay (WHL)
116th- Keith Aulie, D, Brandon (WHL)
143rd- Mickey Renaud, C, Windsor (OHL)
186th- C.J. Severyn, LW, U.S. Under-18