The Pittsburgh Penguins have an interesting offseason ahead of them.
The reported potential sale of Mario Lemieux's stake in the franchise's ownership certainly bears watching, but it's the on-ice product that desperately needs tweaking.
Yes, Sidney Crosby is still the best player in the world and yes, it's probably stupid to suggest that Evgeni Malkin is unhappy in Pittsburgh and would thus welcome a trade to another NHL destination.
The very top of the Penguins lineup, as it has been for many seasons, is set in stone. But what about the rest of the roster? What about a group that failed to provide crucial secondary scoring when Malkin was hurt or the opposition keyed on shutting Crosby down, or Penguins head coach Mike Johnston struggled to find the right combination of players to perform alongside his two All World talents?
Penguins GM Jim Rutherford may be courting an answer to Pittsburgh's additional top-6 scoring woes via current Chicago Blackhawk Brandon Saad, according to a recent report from Pierre Lebrun of ESPN.
"A source suggested to me Tuesday that the Pittsburgh Penguins are a team to watch as far as having interest in Saad. The Penguins would love to make a splash by grabbing the Pittsburgh native, especially given their need for a top-six scoring winger," writes LeBrun.
Saad, a pending restricted free agent, seems a likely offer sheet candidate this offseason. As the Penguins and Rutherford don't possess a first-round pick, if they wanted to take a shot at landing Saad, it would have to be via a trade.
"The Penguins don't have their first-round pick (traded for David Perron) so they couldn't do an offer sheet for Saad, but picking up the phone and making a trade offer isn't out of the question. I think veteran general manager Jim Rutherford will explore what it takes on the Saad front."
Saad, 22, has now been in the NHL for parts of four seasons since Chicago selected him in the second-round of the 2011 NHL Draft. Each year he's been in the Blackhawks organization, Saad has appeared in more games, amassing more points, shots on goal and time on ice, culminating in a 2014-15 regular season in which he scored 23 goals on 203 shots, added 29 assists and averaged 17:15 in ice time.
Most importantly, Saad has become a top performer alongside the Blackhawks best players, Patrick Kane and, most often, captain Jonathan Toews, meaning he'd likely have little trouble playing with either Crosby or Malkin.
He's not a transcendent talent, but he's hard-working, gritty and he knows how to finish. In short, he's the perfect type of guy to pair with an elite player.
While Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman is likely to make retaining Saad a top priority this offseason, Kane and Toews' big new contract extensions, the high cost of the remainder of the Chicago roster - they have about $64 million tied up in just 15 players for 2015 - and the limited rise in the salary cap means difficult decisions are ahead.
Rutherford and the Penguins may be able to capitalize on the Blackhawks tight cap situation and potentially land a heck of a player in Saad if things fall in their favor.
