Brandon Saad will be placed on unconditional waivers by the St. Louis Blues on Thursday with the purpose of terminating his contract.
The 32-year-old forward had another season after this remaining on the five-year, $22.5 million contract ($4.5 million average annual value) he signed with the Blues on July 29, 2021. He had 16 points (seven goals, nine assists) in 43 games for St. Louis this season.
Saad was placed on waivers Tuesday and cleared but will not be assigned to Springfield of the American Hockey League.
“Obviously the production’s not there,” Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said Tuesday. “… There’s been a group that’s been here for a while that things don’t seem to be changing. Collectively, you have to start chipping further and further up.”
He won the Stanley Cup twice with the Chicago Blackhawks (2013, 2015) after they selected him in the second round (No. 43) of the 2011 NHL Draft. He has 515 points (260 goals, assists) in 906 regular-season games with the Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Colorado Avalanche and the Blues, and 55 points (27 goals, 28 assists) in 103 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
In four seasons with St. Louis, Saad had 144 points (76 goals, 68 assists) in 274 games.
Saad has scored at least 20 goals seven times in his career but has scored in just three games this season, two two-goal games, and most recently, a hat trick against the Ottawa Senators on Jan. 3. He had a full no-trade clause this season and a 12-team modified no-trade clause for 2025-26.
The Blues (23-24-4) have lost three straight and trail the Calgary Flames by five points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
Less than 24 hours left in he FOCO sale
“Right now, the cap is tight,” Armstrong said. “Statistically, he’s not having a great year, and he’s got another year left. If we could find a match, we would try. We don’t make these decisions, wake up one day and not try and cultivate the best … I’d like to put the players in the best situations and also get the best return for the Blues … We don’t try and not get the best assets that we can. The market speaks and then you just react.”
