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Brandon Saad

#20 · Left wing · Free agent, last with the Vegas Golden Knights

Born Oct 27, 1992 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA · 6'1", 207 lb · Shoots left · Drafted 43rd overall in 2011 by CHI (round 2)

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Compare with a similar player

The forwards closest to him in points in 2021-22. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Joel Eriksson Ek MIN · 49 P in 77 GP Ondrej Palat TBL · 49 P in 77 GP Tyler Seguin DAL · 49 P in 81 GP Tyler Toffoli CGY · 49 P in 74 GP Victor Olofsson BUF · 49 P in 72 GP

Career

Regular season games only. Pick a season to see its game log below. Cap hit is what he counted against the salary cap that season, where it is known.

020402011-12: 0 points011-122012-13: 27 points272013-14: 47 points4713-142014-15: 52 points522015-16: 53 points5315-162016-17: 53 points532017-18: 35 points3517-182018-19: 47 points472019-20: 33 points3319-202020-21: 24 points242021-22: 49 points4921-222022-23: 37 points372023-24: 42 points4223-242024-25: 30 points302025-26: 9 points925-26

Points by season. The darker bar is the season shown below.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2011-12 CHI 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0.00 $795K
2012-13 CHI 46 10 17 27 17 12 98 41 0.59 $764K
2013-14 CHI 78 19 28 47 20 20 159 48 0.60 $764K
2014-15 CHI 82 23 29 52 7 12 203 53 0.63 $764K
2015-16 CBJ 78 31 22 53 1 14 233 43 0.68 $6M
2016-17 CBJ 82 24 29 53 23 8 210 24 0.65 $6M
2017-18 CHI 82 18 17 35 -10 14 237 29 0.43 $6M
2018-19 CHI 80 23 24 47 -9 12 195 52 0.59 $6M
2019-20 CHI 58 21 12 33 2 16 140 36 0.57 $6M
2020-21 COL 44 15 9 24 1 12 68 16 0.55 $6M
2021-22 STL 78 24 25 49 11 10 158 20 0.63 $4.5M
2022-23 STL 71 19 18 37 -8 12 127 24 0.52 $4.5M
2023-24 STL 82 26 16 42 -4 20 144 17 0.51 $4.5M
2024-25 STL 43 7 9 16 -14 6 75 7 0.37 $1.5M
2024-25 VGK 29 6 8 14 6 0 52 5 0.48
2025-26 VGK 49 3 6 9 -7 14 78 11 0.18 $2M
15 seasons Career 984 269 269 538 36 182 2180 426 0.55

Playoffs

Playoff games only. Pick a season to see that year's bracket.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP
2011-12 CHI 2 0 1 1 2 0 0 4 0.50
2012-13 CHI 23 1 5 6 -1 4 50 30 0.26
2013-14 CHI 19 6 10 16 10 6 35 24 0.84
2014-15 CHI 23 8 3 11 5 6 59 46 0.48
2016-17 CBJ 5 1 2 3 -5 0 10 6 0.60
2019-20 CHI 9 2 3 5 2 2 20 8 0.56
2020-21 COL 10 7 1 8 3 12 19 15 0.80
2021-22 STL 12 2 3 5 1 4 23 6 0.42
2024-25 VGK 8 0 2 2 0 2 13 7 0.25
2025-26 VGK 5 0 2 2 0 0 5 3 0.40
10 seasons Playoffs 116 27 32 59 17 36 234 149 0.51

2021-22 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
78 24 25 49 11 10 158 20 0.63 15.2 16:16

Contract

$4.5MCap hitends in 2026, then UFA
$92KCap dollars per point49 points in 78 games
$832KCap dollars per goal above replacement5.4 goals above replacement
$4.6MWorth at the going ratewhat teams paid for a season like his
+$100KValueworth minus cap hit; below zero is overpaid

His cap hit for the whole season, set against what he did in the regular season. Lower is better value. In a season still being played the cost per point starts high and falls as the games add up. Value is coloured by where it ranks among the 716 ranked skaters whose contract is known. How value is worked out.

The contract

Signed by the St. Louis Blues on Jul 29, 2021, as a new contract: 5 years and $22.5M, beginning in 2021-22. It runs through 2025-26, with 4 seasons left after this one, and he is then an unrestricted free agent.

Season Cap hit Base salary Signing bonus Performance bonuses Paid in all Clause
2021-22 $4.5M $4.5M $0 $4.5M NTC
2022-23 $4.5M $4.5M $0 $4.5M NTC
2023-24 $4.5M $5.5M $0 $5.5M NTC

Each season of the contract, with this one marked. The cap hit is the same every year; what he is paid is not. The pay is as written when the contract was recorded in October 2024, so a later change, such as the rise in the lowest salary for 2026-27, is not shown.

Contracts he has signed

Signed Signed by Kind Seasons Years In all Cap hit
2025-26 to 2025-26 $2M
Jan 31, 2025 Vegas Golden Knights New contract 2024-25 to 2024-25 1 $1.5M $1.5M
Jul 29, 2021 St. Louis Blues New contract 2021-22 to 2025-26 5 $22.5M $4.5M
Jul 3, 2015 Columbus Blue Jackets New contract 2015-16 to 2020-21 6 $36M $6M
Oct 5, 2011 Chicago Blackhawks Entry-level 2012-13 to 2014-15 signed for 2011-12, slid 3 $2.775M $764K

Every contract on record for him, newest first, with the team that signed him to it and the day it was signed. The one covering 2021-22 is marked. An extension is signed while the contract before it is still running, often a year ahead. A row with no team or date is a contract known only by its cap hit, most often one signed since October 2024.

2021-22 analytics

Regular season Playoffs

Rating

+5.4Goals above replacement191st of 723 skaters, 137th of 481 forwards
+0.9Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
+1.9Goals above averagethe five parts below added up

Each number is coloured by where it ranks among the 481 ranked forwards: green is in the top fifth and red the bottom fifth, with paler shades in between and amber for the middle. Hover over a tile for its percentile.

Even-strength offence-0.5 47th percentileEven-strength defence-1.2 22nd percentilePower play+1.8 91st percentilePenalty kill+0.8 98th percentilePenalties+0.9 75th percentile

The goals he added to his team's goal difference, compared with a spare-part player given the same ice time. Each part is measured against the league, so zero is an average skater, and the rank beside it is among forwards. A full season is about two-thirds the player and one-third chance. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones.

-50510152011-122013-142015-162017-182019-202021-222023-242025-26Goals above replacementGoals above replacement, by season

On the ice

What happened at five-on-five while he was on the ice. What these numbers mean

48.4Corsi for %884 attempts for, 943 against
+2.0CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
46.8Expected goals for %42.5 expected for, 48.3 against
-2.1xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
46.3Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
56.6Goals for %47 for, 36 against
102.9PDO9.8% shooting + 93.1% saves
169Attempts takenhis own shot attempts

Each share is coloured by where it ranks among the 636 skaters who played enough to be ranked: green is in the top fifth and red the bottom fifth, with paler shades in between and amber for the middle. Hover over a tile for its percentile. PDO and attempts taken are left plain, since neither is good or bad on its own.

Who he played with

Forward lineGPTimeCF%xGF%Goals
David Perron · Ryan O'Reilly · Brandon Saad48419:0351.449.715-9
Brandon Saad · Oskar Sundqvist · Ivan Barbashev1063:1939.532.04-1
Brandon Saad · Jordan Kyrou · Robert Thomas1451:0352.949.66-1
Ryan O'Reilly · Brandon Saad · Logan Brown546:2147.265.01-2

The lines he spent the most time in at five-on-five, with the team's share of the shot attempts and expected goals, and the goals for and against, while they were out. The two shares are coloured as above, against the league's lines that played a fair amount together. Hover over one for its percentile.

Chances and finishing

Expected goals adds up how likely each of his shots was to go in, judged by where it came from, what kind of shot it was and whether it was a rebound. All situations, leaving out shots at an empty net. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones.

22Goalsnot counting empty-netters
19.2Expected goalsfrom 195 unblocked attempts
+2.8Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.91 expected goals per 60 minutes66th
Shot quality 9.9% chance per attempt89th
Finishing +2.8 goals above expected77thOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of forwards he is ahead of, among the 451 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

05101520Game 20Game 40Game 60Goals 22Expected 19.2

His goals and his expected goals as the season went on. When the goals line pulls away above, he is scoring more than his chances were worth; below, less.

Where he shot from

Every attempt he took this season, in all situations, attacking the net on the right. Darker red means more attempts from that spot, and each dot is a goal. "Show every shot" switches to a dot for each attempt, bigger for a better chance. Click a goal for its details.

Game log

Date Opponent Result G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits TOI
Apr 29, 2022 vs VGK L 4-7 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 12:57
Apr 26, 2022 @ COL L 3-5 1 0 1 -1 0 4 0 17:16
Apr 24, 2022 @ ANA W 6-3 0 0 0 -1 0 4 0 15:44
Apr 23, 2022 @ ARI W 5-4 (OT) 1 0 1 -1 0 1 0 16:56
Apr 21, 2022 @ SJS W 3-1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 17:06
Apr 19, 2022 vs BOS L 2-3 (OT) 0 0 0 -1 0 1 0 13:05
Apr 17, 2022 @ NSH W 8-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14:17
Apr 16, 2022 vs MIN W 6-5 (OT) 1 0 1 0 0 3 0 15:42
Apr 14, 2022 @ BUF W 6-2 1 0 1 -1 2 6 0 15:46
Apr 12, 2022 @ BOS W 4-2 0 1 1 1 0 3 1 17:15
Apr 9, 2022 vs NYI W 6-1 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 16:52
Apr 8, 2022 vs MIN W 4-3 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 17:44
Apr 6, 2022 vs SEA W 4-1 0 1 1 1 0 3 0 14:13
Apr 4, 2022 vs ARI W 5-1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 15:53
Apr 2, 2022 @ CGY W 6-4 1 1 2 2 0 1 0 18:27
Apr 1, 2022 @ EDM L 5-6 (OT) 0 1 1 1 0 2 0 16:34
Mar 30, 2022 @ VAN W 4-3 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 18:47
Mar 28, 2022 vs VAN W 4-1 0 1 1 1 0 2 0 15:16
Mar 26, 2022 vs CAR L 2-7 0 0 0 -3 0 0 1 16:09
Mar 24, 2022 vs PHI L 2-5 0 0 0 -1 0 3 1 15:56
Mar 22, 2022 @ WSH W 5-2 1 1 2 2 0 2 0 18:38
Mar 19, 2022 @ CBJ L 4-5 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 17:11
Mar 17, 2022 vs PIT L 2-3 (SO) 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 14:26
Mar 13, 2022 vs WPG L 3-4 (OT) 0 0 0 -1 2 2 0 20:28
Mar 12, 2022 @ NSH W 7-4 1 1 2 2 0 4 0 14:47
Mar 10, 2022 vs NYR W 6-2 0 1 1 1 0 3 1 16:15
Mar 8, 2022 vs OTT L 1-4 0 0 0 -1 0 0 1 15:32
Mar 6, 2022 @ NJD L 2-3 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 14:24
Mar 5, 2022 @ NYI L 1-2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 16:21
Mar 2, 2022 @ NYR L 3-5 0 1 1 1 0 2 0 15:20
Feb 27, 2022 @ CHI W 4-0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 13:14
Feb 25, 2022 vs BUF W 5-3 0 1 1 1 0 2 0 16:25
Feb 22, 2022 @ PHI W 4-1 1 0 1 1 0 2 0 15:24
Feb 19, 2022 @ TOR W 6-3 1 0 1 1 0 2 0 17:25
Feb 17, 2022 @ MTL L 2-3 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15:53
Feb 15, 2022 @ OTT W 5-2 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 13:19
Feb 12, 2022 vs CHI W 5-1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 16:13
Feb 10, 2022 vs NJD L 4-7 0 0 0 -1 0 2 1 16:21
Jan 29, 2022 vs WPG L 1-4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 13:05
Jan 27, 2022 vs CGY W 5-1 2 1 3 3 0 2 0 15:34
Jan 24, 2022 @ CGY L 1-7 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 12:20
Jan 23, 2022 @ VAN W 3-1 0 1 1 1 0 3 0 15:03
Jan 21, 2022 @ SEA W 5-0 0 2 2 2 0 2 1 13:12
Jan 17, 2022 vs NSH W 5-3 0 0 0 -1 0 3 1 16:37
Jan 15, 2022 vs TOR L 5-6 1 1 2 2 0 3 0 19:01
Jan 13, 2022 vs SEA W 2-1 0 1 1 1 2 3 0 16:49
Jan 9, 2022 vs DAL W 2-1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16:31
Jan 7, 2022 vs WSH W 5-1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 14:50
Jan 5, 2022 @ PIT L 3-5 0 0 0 -1 0 1 0 15:57
Jan 1, 2022 @ MIN W 6-4 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 16:13
Dec 29, 2021 vs EDM W 4-2 1 0 1 -1 0 2 0 22:11
Dec 19, 2021 @ WPG L 2-4 0 0 0 -2 0 5 0 21:04
Dec 17, 2021 vs DAL W 4-1 0 0 0 1 0 2 2 15:54
Dec 14, 2021 @ DAL W 4-1 0 0 0 -1 0 0 1 16:25
Dec 12, 2021 vs ANA L 2-3 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 17:52
Dec 11, 2021 vs MTL W 4-1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 16:36
Dec 9, 2021 vs DET W 6-2 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 17:20
Dec 7, 2021 vs FLA W 4-3 (OT) 1 0 1 0 0 2 0 16:47
Dec 4, 2021 @ FLA L 3-4 (SO) 1 0 1 0 0 5 0 18:49
Dec 2, 2021 @ TBL L 2-4 1 0 1 -1 0 3 1 17:26
Nov 30, 2021 vs TBL W 4-3 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 17:37
Nov 27, 2021 vs CBJ W 6-3 0 1 1 1 0 2 0 12:33
Nov 26, 2021 @ CHI L 2-3 (OT) 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 17:40
Nov 24, 2021 @ DET L 2-4 0 1 1 -2 0 3 0 15:39
Nov 22, 2021 vs VGK W 5-2 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 15:53
Nov 20, 2021 @ DAL L 1-4 1 0 1 -1 0 5 1 17:27
Nov 18, 2021 vs SJS W 4-1 2 0 2 1 0 6 0 16:09
Nov 16, 2021 vs ARI L 2-3 0 0 0 0 2 3 0 16:10
Nov 14, 2021 vs EDM L 4-5 0 0 0 -1 0 4 0 18:22
Nov 13, 2021 @ CAR L 2-3 0 0 0 -1 0 1 0 16:05
Nov 11, 2021 vs NSH L 3-4 (OT) 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 17:56
Nov 9, 2021 @ WPG W 3-2 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 17:06
Nov 7, 2021 @ ANA L 1-4 1 0 1 0 0 3 0 17:58
Nov 4, 2021 @ SJS W 5-3 2 0 2 1 0 2 0 15:38
Nov 3, 2021 @ LAK L 2-3 (SO) 0 0 0 0 2 5 0 12:17
Oct 20, 2021 @ VGK W 3-1 1 0 1 0 0 4 1 16:45
Oct 18, 2021 @ ARI W 7-4 0 0 0 -1 0 1 0 15:48
Oct 16, 2021 @ COL W 5-3 0 1 1 2 0 1 1 17:00