Saad signs 6 year deal

[Jasmine]

Stanley Cup winner Brandon Saad signed a six-year, $36 million contract with his new team, the Columbus Blue Jackets, on Friday.

http://www.tsn.ca/blue-jackets-sign-saad-for-six-years-1.324868

[Josh]

$6M AAV seems a bit high for Saad. I'm not sure I like this trade or signing from Columbus' perspective all that much.

[Alfie11]

Yeah, I agree. It seems every time a player goes deep in the playoffs and does decent they get a huge pay day. Saad is a great young player, but he's only proven to be a ~50 point player so far - and that was on a pretty stacked Chicago team.

[Josh]

Yeah, I agree. It seems every time a player goes deep in the playoffs and does decent they get a huge pay day. Saad is a great young player, but he's only proven to be a ~50 point player so far - and that was on a pretty stacked Chicago team.

Exactly. Hell, Marko Dano might put up more points in Chicago than Saad will in Columbus. Anisimov is a good bet for a resurgent season as well.

[matchesmalone]

I would have to disagree. Saad has been a consistently excellent corsi-producing player. A year ago in what was just his second NHL season (and first full season) he played a lot with Kane on Chicago's scoring line, facing second line opponents and put up pretty good numbers for a player that age, and very strong corsi numbers - he and Kane had the puck on a string together in the offensive zone at times.

Then came the playoffs. Saad showed the world what he's all about in that L.A. series, with four goals and nine points in seven games, but more importantly, two goals and six points in the final three games while facing elimination.

People were expecting more of an offensive upswing this year, but then he got moved onto the checking line with Toews and Hossa. Now Toews is generally considered one of the best few players in the world, yet has only once broken 70 points in a season. This is because he and his line play a defense-first game. Basically, rather than worrying about creating offense, they try to get and keep the other team's top lines in their own zone for extended periods; which they do by working an effective low - high cycle along the outside, and their offense comes from simply waiting for an opponent to chase or make mistakes and create an opening.

On this line, his improvement over the previous season is shown not by his points, but by the fact that he kept his corsi steady from the previous year despite playing a much more exposed role, with a lot less offensive zone starts and facing tougher quality of competition.

Saad didn't get to play on the Hawks' top powerplay because Toews, Hossa, Kane, Sharp, Bickell, Seabrook, Keith... But at even strength his 42 points compares nicely to his all-star linemates, Toews' 46 or Hossa's 42. In Columbus he'll get all the PP time he needs for his traditional fourth year breakout.

[Josh]

I would have to disagree. Saad has been a consistently excellent corsi-producing player. A year ago in what was just his second NHL season (and first full season) he played a lot with Kane on Chicago's scoring line, facing second line opponents and put up pretty good numbers for a player that age, and very strong corsi numbers - he and Kane had the puck on a string together in the offensive zone at times.

Then came the playoffs. Saad showed the world what he's all about in that L.A. series, with four goals and nine points in seven games, but more importantly, two goals and six points in the final three games while facing elimination.

People were expecting more of an offensive upswing this year, but then he got moved onto the checking line with Toews and Hossa. Now Toews is generally considered one of the best few players in the world, yet has only once broken 70 points in a season. This is because he and his line play a defense-first game. Basically, rather than worrying about creating offense, they try to get and keep the other team's top lines in their own zone for extended periods; which they do by working an effective low - high cycle along the outside, and their offense comes from simply waiting for an opponent to chase or make mistakes and create an opening.

On this line, his improvement over the previous season is shown not by his points, but by the fact that he kept his corsi steady from the previous year despite playing a much more exposed role, with a lot less offensive zone starts and facing tougher quality of competition.

Saad didn't get to play on the Hawks' top powerplay because Toews, Hossa, Kane, Sharp, Bickell, Seabrook, Keith... But at even strength his 42 points compares nicely to his all-star linemates, Toews' 46 or Hossa's 42. In Columbus he'll get all the PP time he needs for his traditional fourth year breakout.

These are good points, but the situations are very different. He won't be playing with similar linemates and in fact his role is a huge question mark for me.. He isn't likely to bump Foligno off LW1 and might not even bump Hartnell. Johansen and Atkinson are locks for the first line but who, other than Dubinsky, plays with Hartnell/Saad?