Saad, the Face of a Blockbuster

			2015		2016
To Columbus	POS	Age	G/W	P	Cap
Brandon Saad	F	22	23	52	RFA
Alex Broadhurst	F	22	0	0	$643k
Michael Paliotta	D	22	0	1	$925k
--------------
To Chicago	POS	Age	G/W	P	Cap
Artem Anisimov	F	27	7	27	$3.3 mil
Marko Dano	F	20	4	20	$925k
Jeremy Morin	F	24	2	6	RFA
Corey Tropp	F	25	1	8	$625k
2016 4th Round Draft Pick

The Chicago Blackhawks, may be the team in the worst salary cap position after the Flyers traded away a tagged contract already in this off-season, so they had to do something drastic, before someone else made the decision for them.

On Tuesday, the day before the frenzy, they struck a deal with former division rivals, the Columbus Blue Jackets, which involved seven players and a pick.  The centerpiece of the deal being forward Brandon Saad, who was a huge part of the Blackhawks' Stanley Cup win and who was also entering into restricted free agency and a likely target for an offer sheet at the drop of a hat.  Saad and a couple of prospects, including NCAA signing, defenseman Michael Paliotta, are now on their way to Columbus and in return comes a package, which includes veteran centre Artem Anisimov, sophomore-to-be winger Marko Dano, former Blackhawks draft pick and current RFA-to-be Jeremy Morin, forward Corey Tropp and a mid-round draft pick.  A hefty deal, no matter which way you slice it.

Saad may not be the highest scoring guy coming out of the Chicago system, but there is little argument that he does a lot of things right, at both ends of the ice, which makes him that target for an offer sheet, if the Blue Jackets don't sign him before the market opens.

In return, the Blackhawks get a choice group of talent, some of which will be groomed to do some replacing of some of the talent that will be on the way out over the next few days.  Anisimov has developed into a good bottom six centre, while Dano has some top six upside, as does Morin, while Tropp is still finding his groove in the league.

This deal will reflect well upon the Blue Jackets, especially when it comes to their projections for next season, but those won't be out of for a little while yet.  All I can hint at is that I'm looking at this deal favourably for Columbus.

The Blackhawks are still in cap ceiling hell, as by my count, the Blackhawks have five necessary spots to fill and only $2.8 million to do it in.  It seems highly unlikely that a guy like Patrick Sharp will indeed be around, but who knows?  Someone else could draw the short straw, due to outside interest.

The Blue Jackets, on the other hand, have six total spots they could fill and $15.7 million to do it in.  That's a huge discrepancy between the two teams.