Breaking Down What Happened With The Brandon Saad Trade
Obviously I think we are all still in shock that Brandon Saad got traded. At 22 years old he was already a 2x Stanley Cup champ and seemed to be just scratching the surface of his potential. All the talk from both sides had pointed towards some type of an extension. Bowman had said repeatedly that he would match any offer and Saad said that “money comes and goes, but winning was what really mattered”. Talk is cheap, and his contract isn’t. Its unfortunate that the Hawks couldn’t work out a deal with Saad, but I can’t blame him for going for the money now. He’s earned a big pay day. I think every one of us would do the same thing in that position, but it ultimately led to him getting shipped out of town.
–Why It Had To Happen?
The obvious reason…the Blackhawks couldn’t afford what Saad was reportedly asking for. $6.5M and 6 years is a big price tag when you know deals need to be ironed out for Seabrook and Teravainen among others in the not too distant future. That $6.5M/year is probably fair value for Saad, but it’s not something the Hawks can afford in the salary cap era. The Blackhawks also need cheap talent, and that’s what they got. More on that later.
–Why Not Just Wait and Get A Truck Load Of Draft Picks Back If Saad Gets An Offer Sheet?
Draft picks are nice (and if Saad were offered $6.5M the Blackhawks would have received a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd round pick in compensation), but in case you didn’t notice the Blackhawks are in the middle of a dynasty. They need guys who can help them win in 2015-16. They can’t afford to sit around and waste 4 years waiting for kids from next year’s draft to develop. The draft is such a crap shoot anyways. Better off getting guys that you know can help immediately.
–Who Did The Blackhawks Get For Saad?
Artem Anisimov
27 years-old and a guy who can help fill a void at center for the Blackhawks. The Hawks will definitely lose Vermette and will likely lose Richards so Anisimov is a much needed body. Big body at 6’4 200lbs, and a good solid player(for a Russian). He’s never been a huge offensive threat, but he’s also never been on a high end offensive team. When he does score…
smh…Russians. Stan has made comments about how he’s been chasing Anisimov for years and they’ve already signed him to a 5 year extension for $4.55M AAV. The Hawks now have considerable options at center. Toews, Anisimov, Kruger(hopefully) and then Shaw, Turbo, Dano can all play in the middle as well.
Jeremy Morin
We should all know Morin by now as he’s been in the Hawks’ system since the salary purge of 2010. I’ve always liked Morin. He has good instincts offensively. Heavy shot. But for whatever reason he’s never been able to put it all together at the NHL level. Even in an extended look with CBJ he only scored two goals. It’ll be interesting to see how and how much Morin is used next year.
Corey Tropp
4th line guy. Not afraid to mix it up. Has some creativity to his game offensively, but he’s not in the NHL because of skill. He slides into the Desjardins/Carcillo role for an easy $650k
Marko Dano
I like Dano. He has good size and good speed. Plays a solid two-way game. Not afraid to go to the front of the net. Dano was a first round pick in 2013 and made his pro debut last year for CBJ. Played in 35 games and had 21 points. He can play center or wing which is obviously something the Hawks really value. Dano could end up being the best part of this trade. He’s a thick kid at over 210 and he uses that size to get to the net and win battles in the corner. A blue collar Euro. Dano should fit in well with the Hawks ethos. He’s been playing pro hockey since he was 17 and he will likely make the team out of camp. Here’s a little glimpse at what Dano can do with the puck…
Dano WJC 2013
–What Does This Mean For Patrick Sharp?
¯\_(?)_/¯
At the time of this blog Sharp is still here, but Buccigross tweeted that the Hawks are still working on a trade for Sharp. I don’t know how this will all shake out, but removing Saad, Sharp, Richards + Versteeg and Bickell from the lineup leaves a HUGE hole in the top 9. I almost feel like it’s better to keep him so the team has a little more continuity.
A full 23-man roster with guys currently under contract has Blackhawks about $4.1M over the Salary Cap. That means Stan still has work to do. As much as I’d like to see them keep Sharp, starting the year with three rookies on defense isn’t the way to go. Something has to give.
Was This A Good Trade?
Given the circumstances it’s hard to imagine the Blackhawks getting a bigger return. It sucks to lose Brandon Saad. He’s a Hall of Fame talent. People forget that he was at one time considered a top 5 draft pick, but his stock fell during his draft year because production was down and he was plagued with injuries. It was a stroke of luck that the Hawks got him in the 2nd round. He’s a super star in the making. He’s an American version of Marian Hossa. Could be a 40 goal guy some day and it will be ZERO fun for teams in the East matching up with Saad and Johansen.
I tend to believe that whoever got the best player “wins” the trade. That’s obviously Columbus, but this could work out for the Hawks as well. The Blackhawks got four guys who can potentially help them both in the near future, and for years to come. None of them are going to be as good as Brandon Saad, but Stan did a nice job filling some holes in the lineup. So yeah, good trade I guess. This was more of a hockey trade than a salary dump and the Hawks got a package that should hopefully help keep them as one of the top teams in the league.
The Hawks also gave up Alex Broadhurst and Michael Paliotta in the deal. A couple of solid prospects, but guys who realistically didn’t factor into the Hawks’ immediate future. Paliotta is a big defenseman who moves pretty well, but he’s a right-shot D and definitely behind TVR, Pokka, and Stephen Johns in the organizational depth chart. Paliotta has a pretty good chance to break in with Columbus in the next 2 years. Broadhurst is a smaller forward with skill, but again there are young forward ahead of him in the system. Probably best for their careers to go to a new team with a better chance to crack the NHL lineup.
It’s unfortunate that the NHL essentially punishes teams for being great at drafting and developing, but that’s what this current CBA does. The Islanders of the early 1980s had 16 guys win all four Cups. Flash forward to today and the Hawks Dynasty is basically a farm system for the rest of the league. I can’t really blame Stan and I definitely don’t blame Saad. There ain’t no good guy, there ain’t no bad guy, there’s just Canada and their shitty poor person dollar messing up our team.
PS: NHL Free agency officially begins at 10AMcst. So hold on to your butts.