Flames captain Mikael Backlund to return following six-game injury absence

Calgary Flames captain Mikael Backlund will make his return to the lineup Thursday versus the Dallas Stars after missing the past six games due to an upper-body injury, per Sportsnet 960’s Pat Steinberg.

Sidelined since mid-March, Backlund has made 64 appearances with the Flames this season in which he has collected 11 goals and 13 assists to sit eighth in team scoring with 24 points. With it, Backlund also ranks first among Flames forwards in averaging 2:23 in shorthanded time on ice per game.

Originally chosen 24th overall by the Flames in the 2007 NHL Draft, the 36-year-old Swedish-born forward has since spent part of 17 seasons in Calgary in which he has totaled 211 goals and 344 assists for 555 points in 1,054 career contests. In all, Backlund ranks seventh all-time in Flames’ franchise scoring, and 10 points back of surpassing former Calgary rearguard Gary Suter for sixth all-time. On three occasions, Backlund has reached the 20-plus goal plateau, while in 2022-23 he notched a career-high 56 points counting 19 goals and 37 assists coming in 82 games. Backlund has also added 12 goals and 10 assists for 22 points through 42 appearances in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

In September 2023, Backlund was named the 21st captain in Flames’ franchise history and the first to wear the ‘C’ since former Calgary blue-liner Mark Giordano donned the captaincy from 2013-21.

Per PuckPedia, Backlund is in the first year of a two-year pact that carries a $4.5-million annual average value.

For the Flames, on the season the club stands 34-25-11, powered by its current four-game win streak that moved the club within four points of the St. Louis Blues for the second wildcard seed in the Western Conference. The Flames have advanced to the Stanley Cup Playoffs one time in the past four years.