The Calgary Flames’ playoff hopes were dealt a significant blow on Friday morning when the team announced that captain Mikael Backlund will be out on a week-to-week basis with an upper-body injury.

Backlund, 35, sustained the injury in the first period of Wednesday’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Vancouver Canucks. The veteran centre logged just 2:58 of ice time before colliding awkwardly with Canucks defenceman Victor Mancini and leaving the game.

Through 64 games with the Flames this season, Backlund has collected 11 goals and 24 points while taking on the vast majority of matchups against top opposing lines. He’s in the first year of the two-year, $4.5 million AAV contract extension he signed with the Flames in 2023.

Backlund isn’t the only Flames forward slated to miss time over the next little while. Connor Zary will also sit out the next two games as a result of his suspension by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety, putting Calgary’s forward group into flux for critical matchups against the Colorado Avalanche and Toronto Maple Leafs.

To help offset to loss of both forwards, the Flames recalled journeyman winger Dryden Hunt from the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers on Friday morning. Hunt, 29, has 48 points in 48 games with the Wranglers this season.

With Backlund and Zary out, don’t be surprised if Martin Pospisil or Yegor Sharangovich slide into the Flames’ No. 3 centre spot behind Nazem Kadri and Morgan Frost for the games to come. Joel Farabee will likely take on most of Backlund’s PK responsibilities going forward, although Pospisil, Sharangovich, and Hunt could also be options.

After their loss to the Canucks, the Flames currently occupy the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference on a tiebreaker. They’ve played one less game than Vancouver, which also has 71 points; the Flames also have one more regulation win than the Canucks.

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