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Lance Bouma and Mikael Backlund, the impact a quality centre makes

Part one of two look at Lance Bouma and trying to gauge the value of his pending contract. We'll start with the obvious: Mikael Backlund and to an extent David Jones' impact on the pending RFA grinder.

The main underlying concern with Bouma's sudden rise to prominence is whether or not it is repeatable. Most folks outside of Calgary would say no with legitimate rationale. I mention this because it's incredibly crucial to look at this without rose-tinted glasses. Specifically on the basis of a number of clear indicators.

Lots of CHL players who are below a PPG (point per game) pace at junior very rarely find above-average success producing at the NHL level.