37-year-old David Backes signed a one-day contract with the St. Louis Blues in order to retire with the team he spent the majority of his 965-game career with.
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This retirement doesn’t come as a surprise given that Backes was a free agent and was only able to suit up for 15 games with the Anaheim Ducks in 2020-21. Despite struggling the last few seasons of his career due to both age and injuries, he had a phenomenal career and at a time was regarded as one of the game’s best power forwards.
Of his 965 games, 727 of them came with the Blues who drafted him in the second round (62 overall) in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. In those 727 games, he recorded 206 goals and 460 points. His best season came in 2010-11 where he scored 31 goals and 62 points in 82 contests. He also played in 82 career playoff games, scoring 17 goals and 39 points.
On top of his playing ability, he was also a tremendous leader throughout his career and captained the Blues for five seasons from 2011-2016. Prior to being named team captain, he was an alternate for two seasons prior. After leaving the Blues and signing with the Boston Bruins during the 2016 offseason, he immediately became an alternate captain once again and remained so until his departure from the team during the 2019-20 campaign.
Unfortunately for Backes, his play began declining shortly after signing his big five-year, $30 million deal with the Bruins. This had plenty to do with injuries as he sustained numerous concussions throughout his playing career, a testament to how hard he played the game.
As mentioned, he left the Bruins during the 2019-20 season due to being traded to the Anaheim Ducks, who he spent the final season and a half of his career with. He was often on the taxi squad for the 2020-21 campaign but was able to appear in 15 games, scoring three goals and an assist. Though it wasn’t the best ending, very few careers are. Regardless of that, he had a fantastic one.
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