Miners acquire winger Brandon Saad from Fort Erie

CANADIAN PRESS (Sudbury, ON):

Just when all appeared quiet in the Nickel City, the Sudbury Miners were back at it again on Tuesday morning with a couple of transactions.

First, the Miners announced the signing of their 2017 1^st round pick (8^th overall), Casey Mittelstadt to a 3-year entry level contract. Voted the top forward at the 2018 World Junior Championships this past year in Buffalo, Mittelstadt spent only one year at the University of Minnesota before turning pro. Mittelstadt had 11 goals and 19 assists in 34 games and was named to the Big Ten all-freshmen team this year.

The other transaction of the morning, was a little larger in stature, as the Miners pulled off a trade with Fort Erie. The deal came together early Tuesday morning and the details are this:

Sudbury trades pick #11 overall in the 2018 CCHL draft, along with right winger Jesper Fast to Fort Erie in exchange for winger Brandon Saad, a 2018 5th round pick (#107 overall) and a 2019 1st round pick (Portland).

“Brandon Saad is a really good hockey player, a really good person, and to be able to bring in a dynamic guy like him, I think is very important to our hockey team," Miners General Manager Terry James said. "He likes scoring goals, and even though he had a tough year, I am looking for a bounce back from him next season. He is too talented not to. I want him to bring the type of play he has been known for, to us.”

Having been traded for the second time this off-season, having gone from Springfield to Fort Erie and now off to Sudbury, may have caught Saad a bit off-guard to say the least.

"It was definitely pretty shocking. Not something I expected having just been dealt a couple of weeks ago. But it is very exciting. It is nice to be wanted," Saad said. "I heard this morning, and it was definitely shocking to me. I am happy to go to a place that wants me.”

“I look forward to getting adjusted as soon as possible and help do my part to help push this organization ahead. I guess it’s a good thing that I had not unpacked fully in Fort Erie" joked Saad.

It is expected that Miners coach Derek Sutton will slot Saad into one of his top two lines, putting him with some of his better skilled forwards in the hopes of jump starting their struggling offence for next season.