Blackhawks Coach: 'Good Chance" Brandon Saad Will Play for Chicago in Playoffs

UPDATE: The Chicago Blackhawks vs. Coyotes playoff game will be broadcast at 8 p.m. Thursday on CNBC.

Brandon Saad has a "good chance" of playing in the playoffs for the Chicago Blackhawks, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The 19-year-old former Pine-Richland hockey star spent most of the season playing for the Saginaw Spirits. 

The Tribune quoted Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville as saying Saad has a "good chance" of playing in the Western Conference quarterfinals against the Coyotes.

The announcement comes as the coach announced that winger Marian Hossa, who was injured Tuesday night in Game 3, has been ruled out to play in Game 4 of the Western Conference quarterfinals on Thursday night, the Tribune reported.

After practice on Wednesday afternoon, Quenneville said it's "very possible" that Saad will be on the ice for Game 4 at the United Center on Thursday night, states an article on chicagonow.com.

Saad, a second round pick by Chicago in the 2011 NHL Draft, had an outstanding year with the Saginaw Spirit in the OHL, according to chicagonow.com.

He finished his personal postseason with eight goals and nine assists in 12 playoff games after posting 76 points (34 goals, 42 assists) in just 44 regular season games, chicagonow.com states.

Saad was named the OHL's Most Sportsmanlike Player earlier in the week.

He started the season with the Blackhawks, but was returned to his junior team in the Ontario Hockey League, the Saginaw Spirit, two games into the 2011-12 season, according to an April 11 article on the Blackhawks' nhl.com website.

"The rookie admitted the feeling was 'bittersweet' after breaking camp as a surprise first-liner with the Stanley Cup-aspiring Chicago Blackhawks," the article states.

But Blackhawks Head Coach Joel Quenneville and Vice President/General Manager Stan Bowman encouraged him to keep working, according to the nhl.com article.

“I told Brandon how impressed with him I was and how proud he should be to have made an impact on the Blackhawks so quickly,” Bowman said in the nhl.com article. “And I told him that, as hard as it is, you need to focus and go back to Saginaw and really dominate that league, because you belong in the National Hockey League.”