BACKLUND GOES OUTSIDE OF HIS COMFORT ZONE

Coach Ward’s plan for Flames includes an increase in roster depth and flexibility

There’s something to be said about deploying a versatile National Hockey League lineup and having multiple options.

And it’s clear that since Calgary Flames head coach Geoff Ward took over in December, he has not been afraid to try something new to foster depth and flexibility — which is exactly what the club has tried to do by moving Mikael Backlund to the wing from centre this season, starting with his presence on the right side with Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau.

“When we first put him there, we felt like he was going to give a little more defensive look to the line so that Monny and Johnny may be able to do a bit more offensively,” Ward said. “We saw that. We thought with his intelligence and puck skills that he might be able to add something offensively to them. We saw that.

“Now, we’re coming out of

(the NHL all-star break) we may be able to exercise a little more depth at the centre position. So, we put him back there again. There’s a lot of things we can do with him. That’s not to say you won’t ever see him back on the wing again.

“But, right now, we’re employing him as a centreman and we like the depth at the centre position with him there.”

That’s where he played on Tuesday against the San Jose Sharks, between Mark Jankowski and Sam Bennett as Calgary’s fourth-line centre, and he skated at pivot for the previous three games after the NHL all-star break, indicating the experiment might have been somewhat short term.

But it’s an option and Ward had done the same with Jankowski to insert him back into the lineup on Tuesday, pencilling in the 6-foot-4, 212-pounder at wing.

“I think it’s more simple, to be honest with you,” Ward said of the transition. “I think there is so much that happens at the centre ice position in terms of how much ice you have to cover and everything else.

“I think for smart players, guys that move to the wall — it simplifies things for them. It gives them the opportunity to get pucks and move pucks and get to openings. If you’re in the other position, you’re down digging pucks out, you’re moving them and trying to make things happen. In some ways, it simplifies things for some players.

“If you look in the National Hockey League, there’s lots of guys that came into the NHL as centreman and are now playing wing.”

Backlund, however, might not be one of the converted. He hadn’t played wing since he came over to North America from Vasteras, Sweden, over a decade ago and admitted he was out of his comfort zone.

But, by request of the coaching staff, he had been encouraged to dabble in a different position and he jumped at the opportunity.

“Wardo called me before and asked me and I said, ‘Yeah,’ and at the time, I was excited to try something new,” Backlund said. “But after a while, I was getting a little uncomfortable. But we were winning and playing well, so I didn’t want to say anything. Then, at the break, I told him I wanted to go back to centre.”

After coming off one of his best statistical seasons at the NHL level in 2018-19, Backlund’s production has dipped this season with six goals and 17 assists in 53 games prior to Tuesday’s clash against the Sharks.

He’s not the only one that has seen a dip in production this season, by any means, but Backlund indicated there’s a comfort level playing centre and it’s easier to seek consistency.

It’s not an easy adjustment to go from taking draws, shouldering defensive responsibilities, driving the play and playing a positionally sound game up the middle to taking passes up the wall and, for the most part, staying in a north-south lane.

“You don’t get as many puck touches as you do at centre, centre you are a little more involved,” Backlund said. “I think the middle guy has to be everywhere and I like that. At winger, you tend to get isolated at one side.

“Some nights, I just had to work hard to get into games and I thought that was harder on the wing, where at centre I feel more natural and comfortable.”

We thought with his intelligence and puck skills that he might be able to add something offensively to them.