Elliotte Friedman created a stir yesterday with his 30 Thoughts column:
7. Speaking of forwards, very curious to see where things go with Columbus and Brandon Saad. He’s fifth on the Blue Jackets in scoring, fifth in time-on-ice among forwards. But he was almost a healthy scratch last week and, somewhere, the team wants to ease its cap crunch. Chicago investigated it last season, but couldn’t make things work. He’s 24 years old and has a lot to give.
Friedman is not one to just wildly speculate, so clearly he has talked to, or heard from people that this could be a possibility. This did not go over well with Blue Jacket fans and for good reason. Saad is 24 years old and a core piece of the team. Trading him at all, let alone for a cap relief is a step in the wrong direction and could set the franchise back.
Friedman wrote a quick follow up post today addressing the situation.
One of yesterday's notes went a little haywire. Saad! Step back on Brandon Saad speculation - Sportsnet.ca https://t.co/7WlHp48F7C
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) November 17, 2016
He said “at this time, there’s zero evidence GM Jarmo Kekalainen is shopping Saad.… When Saad was almost a healthy scratch people started talking about the relationship between the team and the player. Friedman also mentioned the possibility that “this is some simple John Tortorella message-sending,… which I think is the most logical explanation. Tortorella is known for scratching his top players, as he did last season with Scott Hartnell.
Brandon Saad is not going anywhere and that is good. There is a case to be made that he has been the Blue Jackets best forward this season. According to Natural Stat Trick, Saad leads all Blue Jacket players with a 52.84% Corsi at 5 on 5 among players who have played at least 100 minutes. When Saad has been on the ice the Blue Jackets have generated more shots, more scoring chances, more high danger scoring chances and more goals than the opposition.
This is more than just a small sample blip. Saad was very strong in these areas last season for the Jackets and has been for his whole career. Saad has also been a boost to just about everyone he plays with. Here is his Corsi with or without you stats with every player on the current roster he has played at least 200 minutes with over the last two seasons.
Stats courtesy of Stats.HockeyAnalysis.com
Every player Saad has played significant minutes with over the last two seasons has seen an increase in their goals for percentage when on the ice with Saad. That is extremely impressive for a player as young as he is. When Saad is on the ice, he finds a way to get the puck into the net; you can’t ask a player to do much more than that.
Saad has been extremely good since coming over from Chicago. This is not a player you just trade, and especially not for cap reasons. According to Cap Friendly the Blue Jackets are projected to finish the season with the ninth most cap space in the league. They have no reason to be looking to shed salary right now and even if they were, trading Saad is not the way to go about it. He is far too good of a player.
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