Q: Where does Nicklas Backstrom rank for you among the franchise’s all-time greats?

Becca: On a personal level, he is #1 all time, no one better, top of the pyramid, greatest of all time. I have adopted numerous players as “favorites” over the years but I don’t think my attachment to any of them can surpass the love and respect I have for Backstrom, his hockey skills, his demeanor, and what he’s meant to this team over the years.

If I’m actually answering the question, though…yes, it would be easy to say he’s in that #2 slot right behind Alex Ovechkin (and as you’ll find out in a sec, the my compatriots like to take the easy way out!), but I think because Ovechkin exists and thrived at the same time as Backstrom, and because I could maybe argue that at least one guy had more of an overall impact on the franchise, I don’t know that it’s where I put him.

Do not come for me.

Definitely top 3, though, (and perhaps tied for #2), let’s not get crazy. He is easily the best playmaker the team has ever had, played a huge role in Ovechkin’s gaudy and record-breaking goal total, and was an underrated defensive player and just player in general for his entire career. Backstrom very quietly did a job others did with much more fanfare, and often did it better. Just as we’ve been spoiled getting to watch #8 for the last two decades, getting to see #19 in red, white, and blue over most of that span was just as much of a gift.

Kalilu: I wouldn’t put him any lower than 3 behind Langway. He was second in-command for the most successful period in team history, a run of sustained excellence on both a team and an individual level that locks his spot on DC’s Mount Rushmore.

Rob: He’s second on Capitals Mount Rushmore, right after Ovi. He’s far and away the best center they’ve had, spent his entire NHL career with the team, and is probably the best two-way player in franchise history. 

J.P.: Nick Backstrom is absolutely inseparable from the franchise’s all-time great, which puts him right there, a conjoined GOAT. For nearly 20 years, dumb hockey fans have questioned where Nick would be without Alex, while smarter observers have asked the opposite question. We’ll never know the answer, of course, but luckily it’s irrelevant because we had the privilege of watching them both. Together.

To Rob’s “Mt. Capsmore” point, whenever I’m compiling a Mt. Rushmore, I want each of my quartet to bring something a little different – my Hockey Mt. Rushmore is Ovechkin (goal-scorer), Gretzky (playmaker), Orr (defenseman) and Hasek (goalie). For Mt. Capsmore, I like the same model, and it’s Ovi, Nick and… well, I haven’t quite made up my mind on the other two (spoiler: I have a feeling we’ll be revisiting one of those two spots in a year or so and go back-and-forth on the other).

Bonus Q: Favorite Nick memory, go!

Kalilu: Despite being the Caps’ all-time leader in assists, the first moment that came to my mind doesn’t involve anything he did on offense:

Protecting a 1-goal lead with three guys in the box, standing in front of a firing squad without his stick, and he still does everything he can to keep the Caps on top. I’m always gonna be salty that he didn’t get more Selke votes during his peak.

Rob: Assists on assists on assists. So many highlight assists. The last second pass to Ovi to tie the game against the Devils always sticks out to me because of his amazing poise and awareness, but I want to highlight one of his attributes that’s criminally underrated: his physicality. He has a few great examples against the Rangers in the playoffs, and I’m tempted to go with his 2015 G1 hit on Dan Boyle because of the victim and result (last second GWG that led to a deluge of NYR tears), but I’m going to go with this one on Anisimov. Just a savage counter-hit and it leads to a goal by Backstrom. 

J.P.: So many great choices, and Rob and Lu have nailed a couple that have permanent residence in my head. For on-ice moments, I’m going with this one, not just for the play itself, but the context of it as well (a low-key super important game in the saga that is the Ovechkin Era Caps):

What a player.

Another Nick-related memory that I think about on the reg comes from the 2006 Draft, when Boston tried to trade up to snag “the Swede” but George McPhee wasn’t having it:

The Caps had their guy and the rest is history.

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