Elliotte Friedman announced that the Blackhawks have traded forward Brandon Saad and defenseman Dennis Gilbert to the Colorado Avalanche for defensemen Nikita Zadorov and Anton Lindholm on Saturday. The Blackhawks also retain $1 million of Saad’s 2020–21 salary.
Saad was drafted by the Blackhawks in the second round (43rd overall) of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. He was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets on June 30, 2015, with defenseman Michael Paliotta and center Alex Broadhurst for forwards Artem Anisimov, Marko Dano, Jeremy Morin, Corey Tropp and a fourth round pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. Saad was re-acquired two seasons later from Columbus in the infamous Artemi Panarin trade on June 23, 2017. Saad has a year remaining on his current contract.
Gilbert is a 2013 third-round draft pick (91st overall) of the Blackhawks and played 21 games with the team this past season.
TRADE ALERT: The #Blackhawks have acquired defensemen Nikita Zadorov and Anton Lindholm from Colorado in exchange for Brandon Saad and defenseman Dennis Gilbert. pic.twitter.com/rUf1xLoPbc
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) October 10, 2020
Coming to the Blackhawks are 25-year-old defenseman Nikita Zadorov and 25-year-old AHL defenseman Anton Lindholm. Zadorov played in 64 games for the Avalanche last season, scoring 13 points (four goals, nine assists) and accruing 65 penalty minutes. Zadorov signed his one-year qualifying offer of $3.2 million just prior to the trade being announced.
Lindholm has played 66 career games with the Avalanche, but has been mostly an AHL-level player. Last season, he played 45 games with the Colorado Eagles and had a paltry three points (one goal, two assists). He carries one more year on his contract with $742,500 owed in salary.