Rebuilding Hawks trade winger Saad, again
Bowman makes cap-cutting move two days after cutting Corey Crawford loose
The Chicago Blackhawks parted with another piece of their Stanley Cup past Saturday.
Twodays after failing to reach adeal with longtime goaltender Corey Crawford, the Hawks traded winger Brandon Saad, who helped theHawks win titles in 2013 and ’15, to the Colorado Avalanche along with defenseman Dennis Gilbert.
In exchange, the Hawks received defensemen Nikita Zadorov and Anton Lindholm.
Before the trade, the Avalanche signed Zadorov to a qualifying offer of $3.2 million through 2020-21. Lindholm’s two-way deal, also through 2020-21, carries a cap hit of $742,500.
The Hawks will retain $1 million of Saad’s $6 million salary next season.
General manager Stan Bowman had been looking to shave salary, particularly because of this season’s flat cap brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, so Saad’s contract, among others, was likely source of relief.
The Hawks reportedly couldn’t come to termswith Crawford on a deal and decided to part ways. He agreed to a two-year, $7.8 million deal with the New Jersey Devils on Friday.
According to CapFriendly.com, the Hawks currently have $8.4 million in cap space.
Earlier this offseason, the Hawks traded blue-liner Olli Maatta to the Los Angeles Kings and didn’t extend a qualifying offer to defenseman SlaterKoekkoek.
This is the second time the Hawks have traded Saad.
They shipped him to the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2015 as part of a seven-player deal that brought forward Artem Anisimov to Chicago.
Saad had 21 goals and 12 assists last season, and he has 169 goals and 178 assists (347 points) in 588 career games over nine seasons for theHawks and the Blue Jackets.
He played seven seasons for the Hawks and made five playoff runs in Chicago, racking up 17 goals and 22 assists in 27 playoff games, including two goals and three assists during this year’s postseason run.
Gilbert split last season between the Hawks (a goal and two assists in 21 games) and the IceHogs (a goal and six assists in 30 games).
Zadorov, a seven-year veteran, played in 64 games with the Avalanche last season, scoring four goals and adding nine assists.
Lindholm split last season between the Avalanche and theAHLColorado Eagles.