Brandon Saad

**Brandon Saad** (born on October 27, 1992 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American professional ice hockey player for the Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL.

He was drafted in the second round (43rd overall) by the Blackhawks in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. He won the Stanley Cup with the team in 2013 and 2015.

## Playing Career

### Early Playing Career

As a youth, Brandon played in the 2005 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Pittsburgh Hornets minor ice hockey team.

In the 2008-09 season, he played for the Mahoning Valley Phantoms to begin his amateur ice hockey career.

In the 2009–10 season, Brandon played within the USA Hockey National Team Development Program in the United States Hockey League (USHL), finishing the season with the most goals (12) and points (26) on the team.

He would then transfer to the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) for the 2010–11 season to play at the major junior level with the Saginaw Spirit of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL).

### Professional Playing Career

On October 4, 2011, the Chicago Blackhawks signed Brandon to a three-year, entry-level contract. He later made his NHL debut with the team on October 7, 2011, against the Dallas Stars, although he was quickly reassigned to Saginaw five days later on October 12, 2011.

After his return to the Spirit, Brandon was named "CHL Player of the Week" for October 17 to October 23, 2011.

Following the trade of Saginaw team captain Ryan O'Connor to the Barrie Colts, he was named his replacement as captain for the remainder of the 2011–12 season, finishing the year with an OHL-best 1.73 points-per-game average.

Following the conclusion of the OHL season, Brandon was recalled to the Blackhawks on April 16, 2012, making his Stanley Cup playoff debut on April 19, 2012. Two nights later, he got his first NHL point on April 21, 2012 with an assist on a goal by defenceman Nick Leddy against the Phoenix Coyotes, an eventual 2–1 win for Chicago.

On September 15, 2012, Chicago assigned Brandon to the Rockford IceHogs in the AHL in anticipation of the 2012–13 NHL lockout. He was named CCM/AHL Player of the Week for the period of January 7–13, 2013, after scoring six points in just three games, (including two game-winning goals).

On January 17, 2013, after the lockout was resolved, the Blackhawks included Brandon on the team's starting roster for the shortened, 48-game 2012–13 season. He scored his first career NHL goal on February 5, 2013 against Antti Niemi of the San Jose Sharks.

On February 22, 2013, Brandon then scored a game-winning, short-handed goal against the Sharks to secure an NHL-record 17th straight game with at least one point to start the 2012-13 season for the Blackhawks, breaking the previous record of 16-straight games held by the Anaheim Ducks in the 2006-07 season.

On May 6, 2013, he was named as a finalist for the 2013 Calder Memorial Trophy (which ultimately went to the Florida Panthers' Jonathan Huberdeau).

On June 24, 2013, Brandon and the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup after defeating the Eastern Conference-winning Boston Bruins in six games in the Finals; he would tally six points throughout the Blackhawks' playoff run with a goal and five assists.

During the 2014–15 season, he tallied a career-high 23 goals and 29 assists for 52 points. He added eight more goals in the 2015 playoffs (including two game-winners and one short-handed goal) while also recording three assists.

On June 15, 2015, Brandon won his second Stanley Cup championship with Chicago as the Blackhawks defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games in the Finals. During the 2015 playoffs, he scored eight goals and had three assists. He scored the game-winning goal in Game 4 of the Final (assisted by Patrick Kane).

On June 30, 2015, Chicago traded Brandon's negotiation rights as a pending restricted free agent (along with prospects Alex Broadhurst and Michael Paliotta) to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Jeremy Morin, Marko Dano, Artem Anisimov, Corey Tropp and a fourth-round draft pick in 2016.

On July 3, 2015, he signed a six-year contract extension with the Blue Jackets worth $36 million.

During the 2015–16 season, Brandon was selected to his first NHL All-Star Game. On April 2, 2016, he scored his first NHL hat trick in a 5-1 win against the Carolina Hurricanes.

On June 23, 2017, Brandon returned to the Blackhawks (along with Anton Forsberg and a fifth-round draft pick in 2018) via a trade from the Blue Jackets in exchange for Artemi Panarin, Tyler Motte and a sixth-round draft pick in 2017.

He began the 2017-18 season with a hat trick against the Pittsburgh Penguins en route to a 10–1 victory.

## Personal Life

Brandon is the son of George Sr. (who is of Christian-Syrian descent) and Sandy (who is of American descent). His father migrated to America when he was 18 years old. He and his wife, Alyssa have a son, Teo (born in 2019).