Brandon Saad signs with St. Louis Blues; How will Avs replace him?

A quick little story here on the fact that Brandon Saad is no longer an Av. The veteran left wing signed a five-year, $22.5 million contract with the St. Louis Blues today. That’s a $4.5 million AAV.

I know there were many of you who held out hope that he might still sign with the Avs, but the sides couldn’t come to an agreement. There were some talks, but once the Avs started to hear that he’d want something like five years, they were out. I think the highest the Avs would go is three years, but that’s unofficial.

I like Saad as a player, like what he brought the team. And, a part of me wonders why the Avs maybe didn’t try a little harder to keep him. But, no, I don’t think five years is a smart deal. Too much term.

Brandon Saad: "I’ve won in my career, I’ve been fortunate. And once you get a taste of it, there’s no better feeling. I wanted to go somewhere that I had a chance of winning and (where) there was a successful team. The Blues fit that mold.” #stlblues

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) July 29, 2021

According to PuckPedia, the Avs only have about $4.8 million in cap space. They have 22 players signed for a 23-man roster. So, there’s an opening for a forward. There are plenty available on the free-agent market, but would they be a good fit here? Tough to say.

Nick Ritchie from Boston? Could be. What about taking a flyer on Bobby Ryan? James Neal? Tomas Tatar? Hey, Zach Parise is still out there too.

The Avs are going to have to look for the same kind of guy Brandon Saad was, probably a one-year fill-in free agent. THey’ll have to take more of a gamble on such a player than Saad was, but that’s the situation they’re in.