While the Canadian received a visit from the Columbus Blue Jackets last Saturday at the Bell Centre, team management announced just before the game that David Savard would not be in uniform due to an upper body injury.
This last minute withdrawal was enough to get the rumor machine racing and some believed in a potential transaction as the veteran defender is currently completing the last year of his contract.
But, according to what the journalist reports and insider Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnetit was not the case and Savard was indeed injured.
But that doesn’t mean he won’t be traded by the end of the season when the Canadian isn’t going anywhere and can already forget about a place in the playoffs. He will undoubtedly be the team’s most coveted player on opposing teams at the trade deadline.
According to what the journalist reports Dennis Bernstein of The Fourth Periodthe CEO Kent Hughes could certainly get a 1st round pick in return for Savard if he decided to sell him in a few months. Several teams will have him high on their list for a long playoff run.
If this is the case, it would be a third first round choice for the CH at the next auction while it already has its own, which is very likely to end up in the Top-10, in addition to that of the Calgary Flames, who are likely to find themselves between 11 and 20. We can even add the two high second-round picks that the Canadian has since he has that of the Pittsburgh Penguins in addition to his own.
It is therefore potentially with no less than five choices in the Top-40 that Montreal could find itself at the draft table next June. Enough to give Hughes a lot of ammunition to attempt a big move in order to improve his training.
- Aged 34, David Savard is a 6’1″/235lbs right-handed defenseman selected in the 4th round (94th overall) in the 2009 draft. So far this season, he has collected 4 assists in 17 games. He is currently in the final year of his contract earning him an average of $3.5 million per season and will become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Of course, there is also the option that the Canadian prefers to keep Savard until the end of the season, he who occupies an important place in the team’s young defensive brigade, and try to negotiate a contract extension with the veteran.
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