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With Roy in St. Louis, Backes may move to the wing

David Backes

St. Louis Blues’ David Backes skates down the ice during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Calgary Flames Thursday, April 25, 2013, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

AP

Derek Roy signing a one-year deal with the Blues gives coach Ken Hitchcock some options what he can do with his lines. Roy’s a playmaker and if there’s something St. Louis could use it’s more offense.

One move they might make, as Norm Sanders of the Bellevue News-Democrat shares, is to move David Backes to the wing. GM Doug Armstrong says Hitchcock has plenty of flexibility now.

“I think it has a chance to be a very difficult group to defend,” Armstrong said. “I think Ken’s got a lot of different options. We have a lot of options and we’ve found a natural center iceman that can produce points.”

There’s no question the Blues are tough to play against and moving Backes perhaps to Roy’s wing would give them one definitive scoring line.

St. Louis has loads of talent, but getting consistent offense will push them to be Stanley Cup contenders. That and not playing the Los Angeles in the playoffs would help too.