Rozner: Blackhawks' Saad about to hit lottery

Marian Hossa knows what it's like to make a smart wager.

He has bet on himself in the past and cashed in big.

Now, he sees a junior version of himself doing the same thing, and Brandon Saad has also put himself in a position for a big payday.

"No doubt he believed in himself and it worked pretty good for him," Hossa said. "He's playing great hockey."

If the two sides don't agree this month to a new contract, Saad can become a restricted free agent. After a great regular season in which he was fourth on the Blackhawks in scoring with 52 points, the 22-year-old Saad came up huge against Anaheim with 3 goals and 2 assists in the last 4 games of the conference finals, as the Hawks won three of four and advanced to the Stanley Cup Final.

In three years with the Hawks, Saad has been to the conference finals three times and the Final twice, and there are whispers among league execs in Tampa this week that he could draw an offer sheet.

With some rough salary cap decisions coming, teams know the Hawks are in a tough spot and might look to take advantage, as the Sharks did in 2010 when they took a run at Niklas Hjalmarsson and wound up with Antti Niemi.

"We've been through this before," said Hawks GM Stan Bowman, when asked about roster decisions this summer. "Every team is going to have changes going into next year. There's going to be some new players.

"If you look at it from a positive, you're going to have some new blood. You're going to have some guys that weren't part of this. For the guys that are new to our team in the future, they're going to want to get to this point themselves.

"We certainly have expectations that we want to keep this going. The main players are going to be back. You have to rely on some young guys to step into bigger roles. We're seeing that play itself out here over the season, players like Saad and (Teuvo) Teravainen, young guys that are going to play bigger roles going forward."

A quick poll of five NHL front office types Thursday had two believing Saad would get an offer sheet if it gets that far, and two thinking the Hawks would not be able to match.

To this point, Saad has made it clear he wants to stay and Bowman has said the Hawks will do whatever it takes to keep him, but a massive offer sheet will not make Bowman's life easier, so he will certainly want to get a deal done before that happens.

Either way, rumors around the league have Saad getting in the neighborhood of $6 million a year.

"That hasn't been any part of my thinking this year," Saad said recently. "We lost Game 7 (to Los Angeles) last year and missed a chance to get to the Final. That's all we've been thinking about."

And in the meantime, Hossa can't help but see himself when he watches Saad play a 200-foot game.

"He has really elevated his game with every round we go forward," Hossa said. "I remember when he got here. He was fast and strong and he's gotten more fast and more strong and he just improves as the games get bigger.

"It's impressive to watch and he's still a young guy. He's going to be a good player for a long time."

For Saad, however, the business side can wait.

"Our focus has been on one thing," Saad said. "We want to win one more series and that's what this journey is about. The other stuff is for another time."

That time is not far off anymore.

• Listen to Barry Rozner from 9 a.m. to noon Sundays on the Score's "Hit and Run" show at WSCR 670-AM.