3 St. Louis Blues players who surprised fans this season

Brandon Saad showed us he’s still got an edge

While he was another player who helped the Blues keep things interesting, Brandon Saad is another player who didn’t impress with a large number of points, hitting just 42 in 81 games as of April 15th, but he still reminded us that he’s still one of the NHL’s better scorers. With a game remaining on the schedule, Saad had 26 goals and an incredible 18.7 shooting percentage. And with another two seasons on his deal, he’s another one Blues fans should have fun watching. 

The Blues never found the net consistently in 2023-24, so it makes Saad’s presence this season more valuable overall. And if you look closely at his basic numbers, Saad only saw 15:30 of average total ice time, marking just the second occurrence since 2012-13 that he dipped under the 16-minute mark. 

Saad was a good asset on the power play, but his forte was at 5-on-5, where he was on the ice for 47 goals this season. When you look at his numbers for even strength, he was out there for 53 of the team’s 238 goals or 22.2 percent. 

Although Saad is one of the oldest forwards on the team, there is a good chance he will still produce at a respectable level next season. Whether he hits 26 goals again isn’t relevant so long as he’s contributing to the team’s scoring. 

(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference as of April 15th)