Canadiens' David Savard Contemplates His NHL Future as a Defenseman

Canadian defender David Savard was considered a potential trade option as the deadline approached last week. Nonetheless, he ended up remaining with the Montreal team, which chose not to make any significant moves, leaving inquiries about his future until the upcoming season. In a recent discussion, 98.5 Sports The seasoned player mentioned that he is uncertain about his future plans for the coming year regarding whether he will continue playing or not.

The player, who is 34 years old, has generally performed as a reliable defenseman in the upper tiers throughout much of his career, excelling defensively. His strong defending skills had previously earned him consideration as someone deserving of being selected in the first round during past trade deadlines when his contract was set to expire. However, recently, his overall worth across the league did not reach those heights, which likely contributed to him remaining with his original team.

This season, David Savard has seen a reduction in speed, which has led to decreased ice time. In his initial three seasons with Montreal, he averaged more than 20 minutes per game, but this year, as they approach their match against Seattle on Wednesday, he averages only around 17:40 minutes nightly. Given that he boasts approximately 1,600 career blocks and close to 1,500 hits across his extensive NHL experience—spanning over 900 total regular-season and playoff matches—it’s clear that David Savard brings significant wear-and-tear from accumulated playtime.

David Savard contract information

Savard is entering the last year of a four-year deal that pays him an average annual value (AAV) of $3.5 million. Despite the expected boost in the salary cap by $7.5 million for the upcoming season, his diminished playing time suggests he might command a lower salary if he decides to continue his career. If teams see him primarily as their sixth choice, they may offer roughly half of what he currently earns, and since this would only be a one-year pact, he wouldn’t qualify for performance bonuses either.

Should David Savard retire?

In the course of the interview, David Savard mentioned that he plans to discuss his future as a player with his family and anticipates making a decision nearer to the end of the season. It's also highly probable that he might wait until later in the spring to assess how well his body recuperates after this demanding season before determining whether he still has another year ahead of him. If that proves to be the case, it would be intriguing to observe whether the Canadiens extend an offer for him to remain with the team or explore alternatives such as bringing aboard a more youthful experienced player to fill that role, or perhaps reserve the position for one of their promising minor league prospects like Logan Mailloux or David Reinbacher.

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