After joining Vegas midseason, it appears that winger Brandon Saad will be extending his stay. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported late Wednesday (Twitter link) that Saad is expected to re-sign with the Golden Knights. Daily Faceoff’s Jeff Marek adds (Twitter link) that it will be a one-year deal around the $2MM range.
The start of the season didn’t go well for the 32-year-old. He had an underwhelming first half, eventually falling down the depth chart in St. Louis, resulting in the Blues ultimately placing him on waivers in late January. Signed through 2025-26 at a $4.5MM cap charge, Saad ultimately passed through unclaimed with most teams unable or unwilling to take on that type of financial commitment.
However, after clearing waivers, Saad surprised many by requesting a contract termination. In doing so, he walked away from the remainder of his guaranteed contract to become an unrestricted free agent. The goal was to get back to the NHL, even if it required leaving some money on the table to do so.
Saad did just that, joining Vegas on a one-year, $1.5MM pro-rated deal just one day after passing through unconditional waivers. The hope was that he’d be able to provide some affordable secondary scoring and he did just that, collecting six goals and eight assists in 29 regular season games after notching 16 points in 43 games with St. Louis. In the playoffs, Saad was a little quieter, however, tallying just two assists in eight outings.
A veteran of 935 career NHL regular season games and more than 500 points to his name, Saad is likely to have strong interest in his second track at free agency in less than six months if he actually gets that far. After re-signing Reilly Smith yesterday, Vegas has $7.6MM in cap room, per PuckPedia, with a few roster spots to fill and Nicolas Hague a pending restricted free agent with arbitration rights.
However, Vegas has been speculatively linked to several prominent free agent or trade targets that could change the financial equation. With that in mind, even if a deal has been agreed on in principle with Saad, it wouldn’t be surprising to see it not announced right away to retain short-term spending flexibility.