Strickland: "Expect a move" involving David Backes prior to the deadline

Here's a random one for the your Friday morning:

WELL THEN.

Andy Strickland works for Fox Sports Midwest covering the St. Louis Blues. He's always been pretty plugged in with Blues happenings, and, lest you forget, David Backes spent plenty of time with St. Louis.

This isn't to say that the trade would be one that would send Backes back to the Blues, but to suggest that Strickland may have a strong connection with Backes himself from his Blues days.

This is going a bit out on a limb here, but Backes has to submit a list of 8 teams to which he'd accept a trade. There's a chance that the Bruins have come to him asking for a list, and he's passed that info along to a reporter.

Who knows? It's silly season. It could also be completely out there.

Backes has a year left at a cap hit of $6 million (though as someone correctly pointed out on FB, his base salary next year is $3 million, with $1 million in signing bonuses). If you remember, the Leafs had to give the Carolina Hurricanes a conditional 1st-round pick and a 7th-round pick to move Patrick Marleau's contract last summer. Marleau was carrying a $6.25 million cap hit at the time.

It would seem pretty silly to have to give up a 1st in order to move Backes' contract. Ideally, there's a team out West looking for a veteran who can come in for a playoff push, or a team that is will to take on contracts (and picks) in order to get to the cap floor.

Of course, Backes could also be packaged as part of a deal for another player, with the Bruins sweetening the pot in order to get the Backes deal off the books.

Either way, if Strickland is to be believed, it's going to be an interesting few days.