Backes centered a line with Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak at practice Wednesday, in advance of Thursday's season opener against Columbus.

EDGE Analysis

Backes' C/W versatility has already paid off, as he'll temporarily move from working on the wing on David Krejci's trio to manning the middle on the Marchand line, in place of Patrice Bergeron, who has been ruled out of Thursday's game. In any case, Backes is destined for top-six work up front for the B's, and thus remains on the fantasy radar.