The St. Louis Blues have a decision to make regarding David Backes, but dealing him doesn't appear to be in the cards.
A pending unrestricted free agent, Backes is making $4.5 million in the final year of his contract while collecting only 28 points in 51 games, but the team doesn't plan on trading him before the trade deadline.
Related: 3 players underwhelming in contract years
"The least likely scenario would be to trade him because we're trying to win," general manager Doug Armstrong told Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The Blues reportedly opened contract talks with Backes in training camp and held a serious round of negotiations. They offered him a three-year deal with an average annual value of about $5.5 million, which the 31-year-old captain turned down, multiple sources told Rutherford.
Despite a lack of progress since then and the deadline inching closer, Armstrong isn't considering getting something in return for Backes prior to Feb. 29.
"A first-round pick does us no good when we're going to this year's playoffs," the GM said.
"I think we're going to be a good team and he's a big part of being a good team. He's our captain, he's our leader. We've had the most points in the NHL over the last five or six years. I mean, he's doing something right. If we didn't want to keep him, we wouldn't have talked to him in the first place. We've got now until March to find out where we're at."
Backes won't become a free agent until July 1, but in not moving him, the Blues risk losing him for nothing or paying a premium to outbid other suitors in free agency this summer. The center doesn't seem fazed that he and his club haven't hammered out a new deal, though.
"That's OK, but I think both sides are optimistic and believe something is going to get done," Backes said.
"I wish I had a magic 8-ball and I could tell you, but I just can’t. The business side needs to make sense on all fronts. I try to keep the team stuff in the front of my mind. The contract, all that stuff, will all take care of itself.”
Armstrong is also optimistic.
"I've been led to believe that he'd love to stay here,” he said. "From my perspective, there's no question that we want him. Now we've just got to see if the business side works. It's not a personal thing, there's no outlining factors of what we need to see or what he needs. I don't want to speak for him, but this is a business decision."
Backes will suit up for his 700th career game Sunday night against the Chicago Blackhawks.
