Report: Bruins sign gritty and physical free agent forward,

There is without a doubt a new big bad Bruin.

The Bruins took a gamble on Friday, announcing that they had come to terms on a new deal with former St. Louis Blues forward David Backes, and while there's no questioning Backes' value as a player, the deal does raise some concerns.

First and foremost the Bruins paid a huge price, giving Backes an average annual value of $6 million dollars, the same AAV that both Milan Lucic and Kyle Okposo signed for today. While the Bruins did sign Backes to a shorter term, a 5 year deal, than the two aforementioned players received, he's also significantly older, a huge part of the decision that the Blues chose not to offer him a long term deal.

With that said Backes is an imposing presence on the ice, and was the heart and soul of that St. Louis Blues team for many years, and his versatile skill set will bring a tremendous amount of value to the Bruins at least in the short term, and perhaps even in the long term as well.

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