Your Brandon Saad expectations were probably *too* high, but that's okay.
What you may also be surprised by is how consistently good and productive he's been, and despite some occasional lulls in his play, he's every bit the player the Blue Jackets thought they were getting when they made a mega-deal with the Chicago Blackhawks two summers ago. Saad is a star.
What did we expect?
Listen, Saad is the highest-paid forward on the Blue Jackets' roster, so it's fair to say there's a lot expected of him and he knows that. He has the total package: speed, strength and the ability to create offense out of nowhere with his hockey sense. In his first season with Columbus, Saad cracked the 30-goal mark for the first time in his career and has eclipsed 50 points in each of his two seasons in Columbus.
If you expected more than that, well, you expected a lot.
What did we get?
Some really, really solid production to the tune of "whenever he's on the ice, there's a good chance the Blue Jackets are going to create something."
Have a look at his 5-on-5 offensive production, particularly the last two seasons since joining the Blue Jackets. With more ice time and responsibility has come a higher level of play and a higher rate of scoring:
The rates outlined in the chart above are on par with a player who carries the pedigree, cap hit, expectations, etc. that Saad does. He's expected to be a top-line producer on this Blue Jackets team and he has certainly been that, and his 5-on-5 shot metrics are indicative of a player who does those things at an "elite" level.
Yes, he occasionally butts heads with coach John Tortorella but that's not exclusive to him. Tortorella has considered scratching Saad simply to serve as a reminder that he believes Saad has another level.
At only 24 years of age and with the resume Saad has amassed already, that statement may be surprising, but it's not a stretch to say those offensive rates haven't produced the pure points that might come with that consistency.
| GP | G | A | P | +/- | PIM | PPG | PPP | SHG | SHP | GWG | OTG | S | S% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| REGULAR SEASON | 82 | 24 | 29 | 53 | 23 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 210 | 11.4 |
| PLAYOFFS | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10.0 |
Memorable Moment
Saad scored 24 goals in 2016-17 and many of them were significant.
He scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Minnesota on Mar. 2, a game that the Blue Jackets really needed as they were hitting the wall late in the year. He scored one goal and added two assists in the five-game playoff series with the Penguins, but his most memorable goal might have been his milestone goal at Madison Square Garden.
This was career goal No. 100, not surprisingly set up by Alexander Wennberg, whom he partnered with to form 2/3 of the Blue Jackets' No. 1 line this season.
Contract Status
According to CapFriendly.com, Saad has four years remaining on a six-year, $36 million deal he signed shortly after being traded to the Blue Jackets in June 2015. The average annual salary of Saad's contract is $6 million.
*Advanced statistics courtesy of hockey-analysis.com.
| GRADE | B+ |
