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Top Flames prospect Backlund might not play in Q-C

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By Craig DeVrieze | Thursday, May 08, 2008 | 1 comment(s)

One of the top Calgary Flames prospects has signed a contract with the NHL team.

That could mean Swedish standout Mickael Backlund will be the rare 19-year-old to lace up his skates in the American Hockey League with the Quad-City Flames next season.

It could mean Backlund will collect on an $875,000 a year contract by playing with the NHL Flames.

Or, perhaps more likely, it could mean Backlund will wind up in the Western Hockey League, playing free hockey for the junior Kelowna Rockets under the watchful eyes of Calgary scouts.

Quad-City Flames head coach Ryan McGill said Backlund — a 6-foot-, 200-pound center who was named the Flames top prospect by The Hockey News in April — will have an opportunity to influence the outcome, based on his physical conditioning and readiness when he reports to Calgary’s summer prospects camp in July.

“The next step will be for (Calgary general manager) Darryl Sutter to determine the best place for the kid to develop,” McGill said. “The best place for him to develop is where he can have some success. That could be Kelowna. Or it could be here. But this is a tough level of hockey.’’

Players over the age of 18 who are not under a North American junior obligation are eligible to play in the AHL, but that is a rare occurence. Last year, 12 19-year-olds were on opening night AHL rosters.

Rarer, McGill said, are teens playing at a high level in the AHL. The last he can remember having notable success was goaltender Hannu Toivonen in Providence a few years ago, he said.

Backlund last year played for Vasteras in the highest level of Swedish hockey, but, according to The Hockey News, played only a minor role.

The 24th overall pick in last summer’s NHL entry draft, he did have significant playing success in the World Junior Championships last winter.

“He demonstrated in the World Junior Championships that he is in an elite class,’’ Sutter said in a statement released by the team. “I look forward to having him here for development camp in July and main camp in the fall.”

Meanwhile, McGill said the recent signings by veteran forward Tomi Maki and prospect Juuso Puustinen to contracts in their native Finland does not preclude either playing for the Flames next season.

McGill said European contracts typically have “out” clauses that allow players to come to North American teams, and said players tend to sign deals early there because rosters fill quickly in Europe each summer.

“Warren Peters signed in Finland last year and two weeks later he signed with us,’’ said McGill.

Maki is among 12 players on the Q-C Flames season-ending roster who will free agents come July 1.

The date remains a key one in determining the shape of the Q-C Flames roster for their second season at the i wireless Center next year.

Craig DeVrieze can be contacted at (563) 333-2610 or cdevrieze@qctimes.com.