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2021 Free Agency: Five Forwards The Flyers Should Consider Signing

By Jacob Modugno

Jan 18, 2018; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Toronto Maple Leafs center Zach Hyman (11) carries the puck against Philadelphia Flyers center Sean Couturier (14) during the first period at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 18, 2018; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Toronto Maple Leafs center Zach Hyman (11) carries the puck against Philadelphia Flyers center Sean Couturier (14) during the first period at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports /
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BRANDON SAAD

Saad has enjoyed a solid season with the Colorado Avalanche, scoring 15 goals and nine assists for 24 points in 44 games this past regular season. Saad also scored three goals in Colorado’s four-game sweep of the St. Louis Blues in their West Division matchup.

13 of Saad’s regular season tallies were scored at even-strength this season, which is good for third on the team behind Mikko Rantanen’s 21 and Andre Burakovsky’s 15, and one spot ahead of franchise centerpiece Nathan MacKinnon’s and Joonas Donskoi’s 12 each. Saad’s other two goals were scored on the power play.

Saad’s shooting percentage this year topped out a ridiculous 22.1%, scoring 15 goals on just 68 shots. He won’t be able to replicate that level of shooting again, but he is a good goal scorer that has reached the 20-goal plateau on five occasions, netting a career-high 31 in 2015-16 with the Columbus Blue Jackets. He also would’ve likely smashed the 20-goal mark again had this season been played in a full 82-game slate.

The Flyers certainly need help in the goal scoring department as sophomore Joel Farabee led the team with 20 tallies this past season, which told us two things that can be true at the same time: Joel Farabee has blossomed into a great player and will only get better in the years to come, and this team needs more help if a 21 year-old second-year player is the top goal scorer on a team that features plenty of offensive talent that should be producing just as much, if not more than Farabee.

Saad only saw the ice for 14:06 per game this season, largely in part of the Avalanche having one of the deepest and most balanced rosters in the NHL and wanting to give everyone an ample amount of playing time behind their big line of Landeskog-MacKinnon-Rantanen. Saad would likely see an uptick in ice time should he end up in Orange and Black next season and would have a larger opportunity to contribute.

As far as advanced metrics go, Saad’s CF% this year topped out at 57.1%, his highest since 2013-14 when he posted a current career-high of 58.2% with the Chicago Blackhawks. His PDO ended up at 98.2, which is decent and falls just shy of his career average of 99.9.

Since Saad’s first full NHL season in 2012-13 , he has scored 38 game-winning goals, good for 21st among all players in that span and that ranks just over the likes of players such as Jamie Benn, Nikita Kucherov, and Steven Stamkos. Saad’s 157 even-strength goals in that stretch also rank 14th in the NHL, ahead of Phil Kessel, Stamkos, Evander Kane, Jonathan Toews, and Patrice Bergeron among others.

Goal scoring like that would be hugely beneficial to a Philadelphia club yearning for consistency in that department, and Saad may come on a larger contract but if the Flyers have the cap room, they should definitely be in the hunt for the Pittsburgh native.

Saad is still only 28 years-old even though it seems like he’s been in the league forever, and he has plenty of great hockey left in him and would be a great winger that could play big minutes at 5v5 and get some decent power play time to help the Flyers’ goal scoring efforts.

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