5 questions with Brandon Saad

On the second day of free agency, St. Louis Blues General Manager Doug Armstrong made arguably his biggest move of the offseason by signing free agent forward Brandon Saad to a five-year, $22.5 million contract.
Saad, 28, played for the Colorado Avalanche last season, where he scored 15 goals on a League-leading 22.1 shooting percentage. He also spent time in Columbus and Chicago, the latter at which he made an All-Star Game appearance in 2016 and won the Stanley Cup in 2013 and 2015. Saad has recorded 20 or more goals in five NHL seasons.
After his second day at training camp in St. Louis, we caught up with him to ask a few questions.
Here are his answers:

So far at training camp, you've been playing on a line with Robert Thomas and Vladimir Tarasenko. What are your initial thoughts of playing with those guys?
Brandon Saad: I think it's gonna be a fun line. You know, a lot of skill, a lot of speed, so kind of just trying to get to know each other over these couple practice days and get a feel for tendencies, and a little bit of chemistry. Like I said, there's a lot of speed and skill, so I think we can make some plays and hold onto pucks out there.
Ryan O'Reilly compared you to a swiss army knife on Thursday. That's a pretty good compliment from a pretty good player. Is that how you will make your mark here, just by playing whatever type of role high up in the lineup that you can?
Saad: That's something that I've always tried to do. Regardless of who I'm playing with or where I fall in the lineup, just play my game and bring what I can to the team and try and help the team win. Obviously, that's a nice compliment from him, and that's what I try to do, just be an all-around player and help the team.

You've played with three other NHL teams prior to joining the Blues, so you've seen different styles and systems. Do you get a sense early on that your game is suited to the Blues' style of play?
Saad: Yeah, definitely. I thought even from playing against the Blues that I liked their style of play, and then coming in: playing that aggressive style, holding onto pucks, supporting each other in the offensive zone. Kind of grinding and wearing teams down, that's all things I like to do. That's something that's being preached here, and I'm looking forward to getting into the games.
You're wearing No. 20 this season - a number that belonged to Alexander Steen. How did that come about?
Saad: It's something that I asked if it was available because obviously I know the history of it, and it's something that I've always worn. (Steen) was nice enough to let me keep that. There's obviously a good history with the number here, and I just want to represent that number and hopefully have success with it.
When you played against the Blues last season, what did you remember about them defensively? Blues Head Coach Craig Berube has discussed making some tweaks to the defense this year.
Saad: I know they've always played a kind of tight-checking hockey game. It always seems like when you play against the Blues that they're in the game and it's always a tight-checking, one-goal game. I know last year was a little bit different of a year, with COVID and things like that. We've made some adjustments. I'm still learning the system, but like I said, it's always been a team that is always in the game and can check you well.