Boston Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said it came down to two reasons.
While there were obviously on-ice reasons for the Bruins placing David Backes on waivers for the purpose of assignment to Providence, there was also more to it than that. The Bruins also considered the “human side” of things.
“Well, OK, so there’s two sides, all right?” Cassidy told reporters Friday. “We have a lot of respect for the person as a human being, what he’s accomplished in this league. We brought him in to give us some of that fight. That’s been a subject around here for the last few days and that’s something that we had hoped, and it was there for a while and then some concussions came into play.
“And I think that affects your decision as a coach when you put a human being on the ice. We saw it a little bit last year with David trying to play a little bit of that role and found himself in two or three scraps, And I don’t know if that’s the ideal role for him, but good for him to try and carve a way to get back in the lineup.
“As a coach, I told it to the players, as a guy that you know as a dad, who has two young girls, you always want to be careful. You’re always pushing guys to play a certain way, but now you got a guy that, who knows, might be one hit away from having some damage. You have to be very careful of that. I know it’s a business, but that is the human side of it when you’re around the players long enough. So, that was a bit of an issue for me to try and push him in that direction.”
The rest of the NHL has 24 hours to claim the 35-year-old Backes or he’ll be assigned to the Providence.
Bruins teammates reacted to the news on Friday as well.
“He meant a lot,” center Patrice Bergeron told reporters after practice Friday. “The impact that he’s had ever since he got here, you know, on and off the ice, his leadership that he brought. Obviously him, his wife also, his family, have been doing tremendous work in the community, but also, like I said, in this locker room. He was a big part of the mentality that we’ve built here. We wish him all the best, obviously. We’re going to miss him.”
Brad Marchand echoed Bergeron’s take.
“I feel bad for him,” Marchand said, per The Athletic’s Joe McDonald. “He’s been such a great teammate, a great friend and he’s had such a great career. This is part of the business that really sucks.”
Backes appeared in 16 games for the Bruins this season, tallying one goal and adding two assists. Backes also missed 13 games earlier this year due to a concussion.
