NHL's Top 50: Niklas Backstrom (No. 25)

FanHouse's Adam Gretz takes a look at his top 50 players in the NHL. No. 25 is Minnesota Wild Goaltender Niklas Backstrom.

We've reached the halfway point, and our second goalie to crack the top 50. The debate will now become: how much of Niklas Backstrom's success is a result of the system he's played in, and how much is a result of his abilities as a No. 1 goaltender?

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The Numbers: Niklas Backstrom Niklas Backstrom GAA SV % Shutouts Career Totals 2.24 .923 17

Draft Year: Not Drafted

Signed with Minnesota on June 1, 2006, after playing in Europe for 10 years.

Why He's On My List

The knock on Niklas Backstrom will surely be that he's spent his career to this point playing for Jacques Lemaire in a defensive system. Does that help his performance? Well, yes, it does, actually. I'm going to reference back to something Steve Mason told me a couple of weeks ago when asked about being a system goalie: "Obviously any goalie is going to benefit from playing in a defensive system. It Doesn't mean they couldn't have success in another type of system, but it definitely helps out."

Emphasis mine. I guess this is where a lot of subjectivity comes into play. He may not face the toughest shots, but he does face a lot of shots (the Wild have finished in the bottom third in the league in terms of shots allowed the past two seasons), and just from watching him play, I think he's a No. 1 goaltender on a majority of the teams in the NHL. So, here he is. In his three years with the Wild, the 30-year-old has finished in the top-10 in goals against average, adjusted goals against average, save percentage, and shutouts each season. He was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy in 2008-09 and helped win the William M. Jennings Trophy in 2006-07. He's also excelled in Europe, winning the Jari Kurri award twice (Finland's answer to the Conn Smythe Tropy) and the Urpo Ylonen (Finland's answer to the Vezina Trophy). He played in his first All-Star game this past season and signed a four-year contract extension just before the NHL's trade deadline.

Obligatory YouTube Video