Brandon Saad will be a free agent on Thursday after the sudden news that the player agreed to terminate his contract with the St. Louis Blues mutually.
Saad, 32, has struggled this season, scoring nine goals and adding seven assists in 43 games. The Blues placed him on waivers on Tuesday and intended to send him down to the AHL before the termination was announced. Saad is sacrificing roughly $5 million in guaranteed money to have an opportunity to explore other options.
Colorado should be one of those options.
Before signing with the Blues, Saad played one season with the Avalanche. He was the main piece acquired in a trade that sent Nikita Zadorov to Chicago following the 2020 playoff bubble series loss to the Dallas Stars.
In his one year, Saad had 15 goals and 24 points in 43 games during the shortened 2021 season. But his real impact was felt in the playoffs. Saad scored seven goals in just 10 games before the Avs bowed out to Vegas in the second round. He was second on the team in goals behind Nathan MacKinnon and did it while playing just 15:15 per game.
Given the fact that he’ll likely sign for at or near league minimum, a reunion with the Avalanche makes a ton of sense. Chris MacFarland should sign Saad for the remainder of the season similar to the Zach Parise addition a year ago.
While this season hasn’t gone as planned, Saad could still provide an added offensive element to the bottom six that this team desperately needs. He scored 26 goals last year.
He’ll also give the depth forwards another player to compete against. Aside from having a handful of AHLers in the lineup this season, another problem the Avalanche have faced has been a lack of competition among its forward group. Some of them can go weeks or months without producing and still have a place in the lineup each night.
That needs to change. Bringing in a former winger who enjoyed some success with the team in the past should be one of multiple moves made before the March 7 deadline.
