The Colorado Avalanche have ruled forward Brandon Saad out for at least one game due to a lower-body injury. This comes as the team prepares to battle the St. Louis Blues for the final time in the 2020-21 regular season. The team announced the injury along with several other small updates early Monday afternoon.
A few updates:
-Saad out (lower body)
-Johansson with the start
-Grubauer is doing cardio, but not skating yet#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/FbbmjkEn3F— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) April 26, 2021
Avalanche Brandon Saad Out
The 28-year-old Saad has been an outstanding secondary piece for Colorado this year. He has 15 goals and 24 points in 44 games. Saad has been dependent and reliable despite not being a central part of the Avs’ offence. This is because the team is so deep that they can afford to play Saad on the second power-play away from its top stars like Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. Despite the lack of overpowering talent on his line, Saad is still tied for fourth on the team in goals and has an outstanding 57.1 percent Corsi For. Trading for him looks like one of Joe Sakic‘s most brilliant moves to date.
The Chicago Blackhawks originally drafted the 6’1″ Saad in the second round of the 2011 Draft. The Pittsburgh native has spent two separate stints with the Blackhawks in his 10 seasons thanks to several trades. Overall, Saad has 184 goals and 371 points in 632 games. That is good for ninth in a class that features talents such as Nikita Kucherov and Mark Scheifele.
How Colorado Replaces Saad
Colorado is one of the deepest teams in the league, but that depth is being tested right now. Saad joins both Joonas Donskoi and Rantanen as injured scratches. That means an opportunity for one of the team’s other wing options. Martin Kaut is the most likely promotion for the Blues game, but don’t be shocked if the organization shuffles players around and tries a more veteran option like Miikka Salomaki from the AHL as well. The good thing is that Saad should return fairly shortly for a playoff run.
