St Louis Blues: Brandon Saad Could Be a Valuable Asset This Offseason in the Right Deal

Brandon Saad is a trade asset to watch for if the Blues decide to make a trade at this year's NHL Draft. The 31-year-old winger has one more year of control on his deal after this upcoming season, with a cap hit of 4.5 million AAV.

If the Blues were to strike a trade at the draft, they would be looking for a number one defenseman to pair with Colton Parayko or an upgrade to the top six. Neither of those positions are particularly easy to upgrade, so including Saad in a trade wouldn't happen unless it was the right fit and made the team better than they are right now.

What makes Brandon Saad so valuable?

Brandon Saad has been one of the most, if not the most consistent, goal scorers on the Blues the last three seasons. He's been within one goal or over 20 goals in his three seasons in St. Louis. At the start of every season, you can expect him to get to that total and play around 80 games. Along with that, he's also a very underrated skater.

Teams could acquire a seasoned veteran who is a consistent 20 goal scorer who rarely gets hurt and is very good at handling the puck and getting it up the ice. There are some players that have the same qualities as Saad on other teams that make much more a season than 4.5 million, so his contract would be another plus for teams who want to trade a star to the Blues.

If you take stock in playoff experience, Saad has that as well. He's won two Stanley Cups in his time in the league. Playoff experience is definitely a factor teams look at when trading for a player.

The Blues won't trade Saad just to get rid of him.

Although everything listed above about Saad could be appealing to NHL teams, the Blues aren't going to let Saad go for nothing. There's a good chance he's not traded and plays his contract out in St. Louis. He should only be included in a deal that will make the Blues significantly better.