While the Pittsburgh Penguins have been mostly quiet so far in this offseason, their nearest neighbors to the west made a big splash on Tuesday and in the process, plucked from the Penguins own backyard.
The Columbus Blue Jackets acquired the rights to forward Brandon Saad, a Pittsburgh-area native, and a pair of prospects for forwards Marko Dano, Artem Anisimov, Corey Tropp, Jeremy Morin and a fourth-round draft pick.
The Penguins, who have sought out to acquire a top-six forward this offseason, were involved with talks with the Blackhaws for Saad, but were outbid by their Metropolitan Division rivals. It is unclear what the Penguins offered for Saad or why the Blackhawks chose the Blue Jackets over the Penguins.
Saad, a restricted free agent, came on the market because his camp and the Blackhawks were far apart on a contract extension.
“It’s fair to say we both tried hard to make it work,” said Chicago general manager Stan Bowman. “It just wasn’t going to work in that scenario.”
The Blue Jackets still must sign Saad to a contract, and in the meantime, they are in danger of another team signing the young winger to an offer sheet, which Columbus would then be forced to match in order to retain him.
Saad, 22, had 23 goals and 29 assists for 52 points while playing in all 82 games for the Blackhawks and added 8 goals and 3 assists in 23 Stanley Cup playoff games.
For Penguins fans, Saad playing for a divisional opponent will be an especially tough pill to swallow. The Penguins notoriously passed on Saad to take defenseman Joe Morrow in the 2011 NHL draft. Morrow, since traded to the Boston Bruins, has yet to crack their NHL roster full-time.
Teams will be able to sign Saad to an offer sheet beginning at noon on Wednesday, when NHL’s free agency period opens.
Photo credit: NHLI/Getty Images
