Assuming he stays healthy, Mikael Backlund will soon claim a franchise record that many Calgary Flames fans never thought they’d see get broken.
The Flames announced Wednesday that they’d re-signed Backlund to a two-year contract extension that will kick in next year and keep their Swedish captain in Calgary until the end of the 2027-28 season. That sets up Backlund to pass Jarome Iginla’s franchise record of 1,219 games played for the club sometime around March 2027.
Fortunately, Iginla’s got a few other Flames records to his name and as a special adviser to the general manager for the team, the move to re-sign Backlund comes with his full support.
“(Iginla) said ‘we can sit him, right? So he can only get to 152 games?’ “ said Flames GM Craig Conroy with a laugh. “No, Jarome is on board and he knows what it’s like. I would have liked to see Jarome spend his whole career in Calgary, too, but I understand different situations and different things were going on and for us to be able to get Backs here, the goal really is to make the playoffs and make a push and Backs is going to be a big part of it.”
Heading into training camp, Backlund has played 1,066 regular-season games for the Flames. That means he’ll need to suit up for 154 additional contests to pass Iginla and become the longest-tenured player in the franchise’s history.
That’s a big deal.
Picked in the first-round, 24th overall, by the Flames in the 2007 NHL Draft, Backlund has only ever worn the Flaming ‘C’ on his chest during his lengthy career. He was named captain in 2023 and at this point, it’s incredibly unlikely that he’ll ever play for another NHL team.
Passing Iginla hasn’t always been a goal for Backlund, but becoming the player with the most games-played in franchise history would mean the world to him.
“That would be very special, of course,” said Backlund, who played parts of five seasons with Iginla early in his career. “It potentially could happen and if that happened it would be really cool and amazing to (pass) such a legend, Jarome Iginla.
“It would mean a lot to me and my family and everyone that’s supported me throughout my career. I never thought when I was drafted back in 2007 that I was going to get anywhere close to this record.”
Mikael Backlund arrives for Wednesday’s press conference with his wife Frida and children Tillie and Oliver.
While it’s undeniably a good news story that a guy like Backlund, who has been through the ups and downs of being with the Flames over the last (nearly) two decades, is sticking around, the decision was not purely sentimental from the team’s perspective.
At 36 years old, Backlund continues to perform his shutdown centre duties at a high level and is the most important voice in a leadership group that’s going to be critical to the team’s long-term success as they get younger over the next few years.
There’s been no physical drop-off, either. Conroy said Backlund had finished in the top three of the Flames’ pre-season fitness testing this week. Last season, he recorded 15 goals and 17 assists. Not huge numbers, but remember that he was often going up against the opposing team’s top centre and still posted a +4 rating.
There’s no reason to believe his game will suffer any sort of precipitous drop-off before his next contract ends at the conclusion of the 2027-28 season.
At that point, Iginla’s record could be in the rearview mirror.
“It’s amazing, really. You saw how Jarome’s longevity in the city and what he meant to the city both on and off the ice and you’re thinking ‘no one is going to catch Jarome’ and now that we’re sitting here with this contract, it’s in sight,” Conroy said. “That’s the one thing we look at, too, I know he’s going to take care of himself. The way he trains, the way he dedicates himself to the game … I looked at his (fitness testing) scores the other day just to compare, they’re identical to last year. I know he says he’s getting older, but he’s not regressing physically right now. That’s what really made me excited, I don’t know how long he can go.”
However long Backlund plays — and another year or two after this contract extension ends can’t be ruled out — what’s clear is his future is going to be in Calgary.
“That’s the goal and the dream, I don’t want to play for another team,” Backlund said, with his wife and two children only a few feet away. “I believe in this group and believe we have a good future ahead. I want to finish these three years in Calgary and we’ll see then if the new arena gives us another boost to play more.
“It’s only the Calgary Flames for us. This is where our heart is and this is the city we live in and want to be in.”