In hockey, there’s a familiar refrain: If you’ve got goaltending, you’ve got a lot. That phrasing reflects the sheer importance of the goalie position as something that can hold a team that’s out-matched in quite a few games.

Well, in Calgary, there’s another saying: If they’ve got Mikael Backlund, they’ve got a lot. In 2026-27, Backlund, the Flames’ captain, will play his 16th full season in the National Hockey League and should surpass Jarome Iginla as the franchise’s all-time games-played leader sometime late in the season.

After so many years of strong two-way hockey, can Backlund keep it up in 2026-27?

A product of Vasteras, Sweden, Backlund was selected 24th overall by the Flames in the 2007 NHL Draft. Drafted as an offensive player in Sweden, he adapted to the smaller North American ice and quietly became a really effective two-way player for the Flames. After the 2012-13 lockout, he added a bit of offensive swagger to his existing 200-foot game and became, well, the Mikael Backlund we know now.

Dating back to 2016-17, Backlund has received Selke Trophy votes from Professional Hockey Writers Association members in nine of the past 10 seasons – the lone exception being the 2020-21 Canadian Division year where nobody outside of the Canadian markets saw Backlund play. That’s a testament to the reputation Backlund’s built as a reliable two-way player that can play against the league’s best.

But Backlund is no spring chicken. He turned 35 on St. Patrick’s Day, and out of 1,038 players that hit NHL ice in 2025-26, only 23 were older than Backlund. Regardless of the mileage on the player, Backlund remains a really important figure for the hockey club. He wears the C as the club’s on and off-ice leader, and in addition to being a seasoned pro that can be a role model for the club’s many young players, he’s a strong enough two-way player that his line can eat up the tough minutes and allow the rookies to ease into NHL roles rather than be thrown into the deep end.

The good news is that the things that make Backlund so effective – his instincts and hands – probably won’t slow down as he ages. The bad news is that Father Time is undefeated, and that no matter how well-prepared Backlund is, eventually he probably will slow down a tad physically and be a bit more reliant on those instincts and hands.

For now, the hope is that Backlund’s speed holds up and allows him to utilize those instincts and hands for a few seasons more as he helps shepherd the Flames through their rebuild.