Saad would've made $5.4 million had he reported to the Blues' AHL affiliate. Instead, he's walking away from it to become an NHL free agent.

The St. Louis Blues have put veteran forward Brandon Saad on waivers with the intent of sending him to the minors.

While teams did not claim Saad when he hit waivers, the reason for it was his $4.5 million cap hit until the end of 2025-26. However, now that he is hitting the free-agent market,