The 10th-best draft selection in Calgary Flames franchise history, Matthew Tkachuk, was here for a good time, but not a long time, as the kids say. The ninth-best selection on our list is the personification of a long-time Flame.

The ninth-best draft choice in Flames franchise history is Mikael Backlund, the 24th overall selection in the 2007 NHL Draft.

A product of Vasteras, Sweden, Backlund played his youth hockey in his hometown and worked his way up through VIK Vasteras HK’s system. He made his pro debut in the second-tier HockeyAllsvenskan in 2005-06, during his 16-year-old season. He played well during his draft year, 2006-07, but his draft stock was hampered somewhat by a minor knee injury he suffered during the season.

The Flames entered the first round of the 2007 NHL Draft with the 18th overall pick. They swapped picks with St. Louis, moving down to 24th overall and adding a third-round pick in the process. They selected Backlund at 24th overall, with Backlund later recounting that he had a feeling that the Flames were going to take him when Anders Steen, their Swedish scout, came up to the stage for the pick.

Backlund spent the next season and a half in Sweden, signing his entry-level deal after the 2007-08 season. However, concerns over his usage in Sweden in the first part of the 2008-09 season (and how it was impacting his development) led to a negotiated exit from his Swedish commitments and a move to the Western Hockey League’s Kelowna Rockets, who had selected him in the CHL’s Import Draft in 2007. The move worked well for Backlund, as he became a focal point of the Rockets’ attack and helped them win the Dean Chynoweth Cup as WHL league champions.

Backlund went pro the following season, splitting the 2009-10 campaign between the Flames and the AHL’s Abbotsford Heat. He moved up to the NHL roster full-time in 2010-11 and began to build up his two-way game under head coach Brent Sutter on the Flames’ bottom two forward lines. He spent the 2012-13 lockout playing in Sweden and returned to the NHL ice with boosted confidence, finally finding a way to start combining two-way details with his scoring swagger.

Starting roughly around the 2015-16 season, Backlund has been, well, Backlund. He’s first over the boards to face the other team’s top players. He’s first over the boards in penalty killing situations. If the Flames are nursing a one-goal lead with the clock winding down, you’ll find Backlund on the ice. If there’s a player whose two-way game needs a bit of growth, he’s usually placed with Backlund and his game rounds out very quickly. He’s entering his third season as captain in 2025-26, and was an alternate captain for five seasons prior to receiving the C.

In terms of excellence, Backlund has won a single major award during his career, the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, which he received for leadership on and off the ice and humanitarian contributions. He’s also received votes for the Selke Trophy, awarded to the league’s best defensive forward, in eight of the past nine seasons dating back to 2016-17 (when he finished fourth).

Backlund may not be the most attention-grabbing player in Flames franchise history. Other players may have scored more goals or made flashier moves on the ice. But man, Backlund has played over 1,000 games for the Flames – the most of any drafted player and 263 more than the next-most – and he’s performed a crucial two-way, shutdown role to great effect.

He’s one of the most important players in club history, and they got him late in the first round. That’s value.