Brandon Saigeon

June 2020 – Saigeon didn’t get signed by the June first deadline, making him a free agent.  Jokke Nevalainen

May 2020 – In his first pro season, Saigeon was sent from the AHL down to the ECHL after training camp and remained there for developmental purposes. He encountered some major struggles to score playing against bigger, more veteran pros and finished the campaign with just 8 goals and 18 points in 51 games. The coaches did praise his commitment to focusing on the fine details to become useful every shift and not just in the offensive zone, but he still has a long ways to go. Unless his offense explodes back in 2020-21, he needs to diversify and learn to play a middle-six role before getting further pro consideration. Fantasy stock in heavy decline. Hayden Soboleski

September 2019 – Saigeon has been assigned to AHL training camp. The jump to pro has been tough on recent Avs draft picks, so if he can manage to translate his production from the OHL to the AHL he could really impress. His contract limits his fantasy value however, since he is ineligible to even be an injury call-up. Hayden Soboleski

July 2019 – Saigeon has signed an AHL contract with the Colorado Eagles. This means he won’t even see call-up duties for the year, but this was unlikely anyways given the depth above him. Being able to stick with the Eagles would be a great sign in an organization that likes to send players down to the ECHL upon pro arrival. Hayden Soboleski

June 2019 – It was a long final OHL season for Saigeon (in a good way). He maintained over a point-per-game pace in the regular season after being traded to the Generals, his first new team in 4 years. In the playoffs, Oshawa made it to the third round and he was the team’s leading scorer with 16 points in 15 games (6G, 10A). He was notably prolific on the powerplay. He doesn’t yet have an ELC with the organization, but after such a strong campaign he will certainly get a chance somewhere to develop further in the AHL. In a few years he could push for a bottom-six role. Hayden Soboleski

January 2019 – Saigeon has been traded to the playoff-bound Oshawa General in the OHL. As is expected of a 20-year-old in Junior, he is having his best season yet, totaling 61 points in 40 games prior to this move. He hasn’t stopped physically growing either, and has become an all-around force on the ice. He was clutch in the post-season last year, let’s see if he can do it again. Hayden Soboleski

September 2018 – Saigeon has been cut from training camp and reassigned to the OHL. Given his strong play in camp (and 2017-18 season), its surprising that he was not offered the chance to turn pro and begin his AHL development. Regardless, he is a couple years away from pushing for a meaningful NHL role. As a bottom-six player, he needs to grind his way up the ladder. Hayden Soboleski

June 2018 – The Avs selected OHL over-ager Saigeon in the 5th round of the draft. He set a career-high with 35 goals and 35 helpers in 70 regular season contests, followed by an absolutely ridiculous 18 goals in 21 playoffs games. I’m typing that again in case you skimmed over that sentence – 18 goals in 21 playoffs games. The fact that he was older and more physically developed than most of his competition is valid, but Saigeon can put pucks in the net and is a relentless forechecker, and projects to step right into the AHL pro lineup this fall. Hayden Soboleski