With Shea Weber sidelined for at least the entire 21/22 season due to injury, the Montreal Canadiens looked to shore up their blueline during the 2021 offseason. They signed UFA David Savard, fresh off a Stanley Cup win with the Tampa Bay Lightning, to a four year deal. Let’s take a look at the early returns.
The Contract
Date: July 28, 2021
Signed by Montreal Canadiens:
- David Savard (age 30): 4 year, $3.5M cap hit)
Projected Value:
The Canadiens went looking for defensive help during the 2021 offseason to fill the void left after the news that Shea Weber would miss at least the entire season. The biggest addition from outside the organization was David Savard, who signed as a free agent after winning a Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Savard is a defense first defenseman, with a projected impact for the 21/22 season of a borderline 3rd pair defenseman. Based on that impact, his value is $2.2M for the 21/22 season and the Canadiens appear to have overpaid significantly. At age 31, it’s likely that we’ll start to see his impact decline over the next couple of seasons and the cap efficiency could get significant worse by the end of the four year deal.
2021-2022 Performance
Montreal Canadiens – David Savard
David Savard was presumably brought in by the Canadiens primarily for his defensive impact. Through his first 24 games in Habs colors, we haven’t seen a strong defensive presence from him. His projected impact was much better than we are seeing, as he sits above the 75th percentile in 5v5 xGA/60 among NHL defensemen. Offensively, Savard wasn’t projected to be a big factor, and he’s provided even less offense than projected at 5v5 through the first quarter of the season. Savard has also been used as a key penalty killer by the Habs, who have one of the worst penalty kills in the league.
Team Performance – Montreal Canadiens
Savard’s struggles are a microcosm of the Canadiens team performance through the first quarter of the season. The Habs have generated less offensively and given up more defensively than their projected numbers. Their penalty kill is among the worst in the league and their powerplay sits in the bottom quartile in the league as well.
The Verdict
Initially, the David Savard signing looked like an overpay by the Canadiens. He’s struggled through the first quarter of the season and the Habs desperately need his to pick up his defensive game. We’re only at the quarter mark of the first season in a four year deal so there ‘s plenty of time for the results of this signing to evolve, but at the moment it has the look of a deal that the Habs will regret before it expires.
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