The loss of Brandon Saad will hurt the Blackhawks

I understand the cap games that have to be played.

But I believe that Chicago will regret trading Brandon Saad to the Columbus Bluejackets.

Saad was a good to very good producer by-the-numbers with 23 goals and 29 assists in 82 games last year.

But Brandon Saad was more than just the numbers.  He was the guy that came through when the team needed that little extra burst of energy.  Of a steal.  Of a defensive back check.

And I think those gritty intangibles are going to hurt the Blackhawks next year.

Brandon was not thrilled with the trade:

More from the same ESPN article:

“It’s a challenge to try to negotiate a contract, and we gave it our best shot,” Bowman said. “We worked hard at it with Brandon and his agent and weren’t able to reach an agreement. And when that became apparent, we turned our focus to trying to improve our team for next season.”

Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said Tuesday that his team is working on a contract extension for Saad, adding that talks “accelerated pretty quickly.”

“We want winners here, and he’s a proven winner,” Kekalainen said. “He won two Stanley Cups. He’s 22 years old, he’s been a big part of it. He’s got all the right tools. He’s got speed, he’s got size, he’s got strength and he plays the game hard.”

Image courtesy of Lisa Gansky.