[News] Brandon Saad on waivers. Upd: clears

[Sylvanfan]

Rumors that him and Montgomery do not get along. He might feel like he has enough money and would rather work somewhere else where him and the boss font clash.

[dino7c]

Seems like a scam, I bet he finds a bag if money in his back yard

[Braden]

Originally Posted by Leeman4Gilmour

My understanding he's agreed to a contract termination, not a buyout. Once his contract is terminated, he'd have to hope for a deal better than 2 x $4.5 to exceed his current situation. If someone were willing to pay more than what he's getting, they'd just trade for him. I don't know what Euro leagues pay, but I doubt he's getting anywhere near that money overseas.

Crazy thought... Maybe it's not about the money though
Maybe with 50+ mill in earnings it buys you some flexibility to do whatever you want to do

[Vinny01]

I wonder if he signs with the Oilers considering the connection with Bowman?

[transplant99]

Its fairly straight forward.

He wants to play in the NHL vs riding the buses in the AHL.

There was only one path forward for that to happen which was contract termination.

Now he is free to sign with whomever he likes.....money be damned.

I applaud him for doing so even if its costing him 6M dollars or so.

[Leeman4Gilmour]

Originally Posted by Braden

Crazy thought... Maybe it's not about the money though
Maybe with 50+ mill in earnings it buys you some flexibility to do whatever you want to do

Yah, I get that. My original question was looking for some other reason, loop hole in the CBA or something, for doing this - looking for a learning opportunity. Seems clear there is none. I'm not disparaging Saad. If anything, I'm green with envy, haha. Anywho, like T99 says, good on him.

[blankall]

His contract was slightly front loaded. He still gave up $3,625,000 for 2025-26 and about $1.65 for the remainder of this season. After taxes, fees, agent's expenses, etc.. that's probably about $2.5 million in actual cash.

No he won't make as much on the UFA market, if that was the case, he'd have been picked up for free on the wavier wire.

Worst case scenario for him is that he signs for league minimum for the remainder of this year, and then plays in Europe next year. So he's realistically giving up about $1,000,000 in cash in hand total, after factoring in those worst case scenarios. If he's properly invested the money he has made, he could be making several times that a year in passive income already....so maybe it's not that big of a deal.

I can't tell if this is refreshing to see someone give up cash for the dream, or if he just thinks he's too good for the AHL.

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by looooob

and....Oilers...

Easy there.

Implying that Saad did something terrible enough for the Oilers to want to sign him is a pretty serious accusation.

Best not to speculate.

[FlamesAddiction]

He's still not exactly old (only 32). He might see going to a new team as a free agent as a better chance at revitalizing his career and earning a future contract rather than going down to the AHL for the rest of the season, even if it means giving up money in the short term.

[SuperMatt18]

Just don't sign with the Oilers please.

Hopefully it's Colorado to return there, or with Detroit to reunite with Kane and Debrincat

[dino7c]

I bet its the Oilers...when a team.randomly gets out of a bad contract for seemingly no reason at all they end up in Edmonton

[Monahammer]

If both came knocking, I'd definitely pick Colorado over Edmonton. Saad is an american, so likely shares this opinion.

[Sofa GM]

It will 100% be the Oilers

[OILFAN #81]

Originally Posted by Sofa GM

It will 100% be the Oilers

They already had discussions on signing for the remainder of the year at league minimum. He has multiple offers on the table with 3-4 teams.

From what I heard, Dallas had a long conversation with Saad as well.

[cannon7]

Injuries have really derailed Saad's career. Not surprised he cleared.

[OILFAN #81]

Originally Posted by cannon7

Injuries have really derailed Saad's career. Not surprised he cleared.

I think there's still a player in there with the right team. He had 26 goals last year. He cleared due to the cap hit. At league minimum, it would be a solid pickup for the rest of this season.

[D as in David]

Whatever makes him glaad.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

He's still not exactly old (only 32). He might see going to a new team as a free agent as a better chance at revitalizing his career and earning a future contract rather than going down to the AHL for the rest of the season, even if it means giving up money in the short term.

Our perception is a bit skewed, as Coleman, Backlund, and Kadri all seem to be playing beyond 32 at a very high level. However, 32 is still pretty old for an NHL player. Especially one with Saad's style of play. By 32 most players are clearly declining, with most being out of the league by 34 or so.

[trackercowe]

That's exactly what Edmonton needs, another 30+ winger at the end of his career. They already have the oldest roster in the league, adding a 32 year old will only add to that.

[Toonage]

Only one puck and two guys share it for 35 minutes a game.

Saad can watch with the rest of them I suppose.