Blackhawks: Trading Brandon Saad admits defeat in Panarin trade

The Chicago Blackhawks have struggled ever since they traded Artemi Panarin for Brandon Saad. If the Blackhawks trade Saad during the offseason, they’d finally admit defeat in the trade.

The Chicago Blackhawks have been buried by fans and the media for trading away Artemi Panarin since the second it happened. It’s always nice to see a former face like Brandon Saad make a return to the team, but at what cost?

Rumors of Saad being a trade target during the last two seasons haven’t turned into anything, but this summer could be a totally different story. If the team decided to move on from Saad in the summer, they’d finally admit defeat in that infamous trade made in 2017.

After the season Saad had last year, he’s worth a late first-round draft pick, maybe multiple seconds, depending on the team. He would instanly improve a team that needs to add a depth forward for a Stanley Cup run, like the Oilers or Golden Knights.

It just remains to be seen what the team will do with Saad, as he enters the last year of his $6,000,000 AAV contract. If he isn’t traded, the team needs to re-sign him. Saad cannot just walk to free agency. He’s a need on the team, just not at that high of a price.

I’m interested in what they’ll do with him in this situation. Saad had a bounce-back season, scoring 21 goals in 58 games. If he wasn’t injured, he would have averaged just around 30 goals this season, which is very good.

If Saad can put together another impressive season in 2020-21, he will either be solid trade bait around the deadline or re-signed for a long-term deal. I’m hoping for the long-term deal, even after that big loss Chicago took when trading Panarin away.