The Blues and Brandon Saad have agreed on a contract termination. This comes one day after Saad was put on waivers by the Blues. Today, we found out he went unclaimed. The rule is if a player goes unclaimed on waivers, they have to report to the AHL. Saad didn't want to do that, so he and the Blues agreed it would be best to terminate his deal.
The writing has been on the wall for quite awhile with Saad. He was in and out of the lineup a lot this season, healthy scratched, and involved in multiple trade rumors. He was a solid player for St. Louis, tallying 20 goals in every season except for 22-23 where he had 19.
This is a good move by the Blues
Since this is a contract termination and not a contract buyout, the Blues will be relieved of Saad's 4.5 million dollar salary for this season, and the rest for next year as well. When you're a team that has the prospects coming up and makes moves in the offseason to get back to the playoffs, and you're not there, you have to start looking at what roster players aren't performing. Saad was one of them.
Whatever way the Blues decide to use Saad's salary relief, whether it's going after a big player at the trade deadline, or acquiring someone in the offseason, this move is a big win for the Blues. Some long and heavy contracts still remain, but this is a good start.
The Blues need a game changing player. Kyrou, Thomas, and Buchnevich can be those players. But the Blues are a star or two away from being true contenders. It'll be interesting to see what the Blues do if anything with this cap space, but if this team wants to take the next step they're at least a big acquistion away.