He is 35, not 40. I don't know where Russo comes into this, but that's cool that you mentioned him. Tons of teams would take him and his contract, seeing as how he is a top 15 goaltender in the NHL.
I don't care about his start to the season, he really hasn't been given a chance this year.
Are..... Are you serious?
If you ignore his win totals from last year, and you should -- because that's a team stat, not a goalie stat, also inflated by being 5th in games played -- his stats are just not good enough to justify such a claim.
28th in save % last year, 23rd in GAA. 1st in wins... See anything wrong with that? The year before? 19th in GAA and 13th in save % and 29th in wins.
You may have had a leg to stand on with that claim 2 years ago, not anymore.
This year? Yes, he's been hurt, but he has had 7 starts. What does he have to show for those 7 starts? The league's worst save % and a bottom 10 GAA.
He's a fringe starter at this point, not a playoff goalie. And that's ignoring his injuries entirely.
A little history, for us:
There hasn't been a cup winning goalie to have a sub .920 save % during the regular season in at least 3 years (I'm too lazy to go back any further, and it loses impact going back any further anyway.)
Backstrom hasn't been able to say that since '08-'09.
It's mind boggling to me how people can still think he's going to be the goalie that carries us in the playoffs. He's old, he hasn't had a statistically significant season in 5 years, he's a constant injury risk and even in his best statistical years, he was playing behind a Jaques Lemaire team.