April 18, 2025
Montreal Canadiens defenseman David Savard has announced he plans to retire following the playoffs
It has been quite a career for Montreal Canadiens defenseman David Savard – and it would seem that his illustrious career now has an expiration date. Today, Savard said that once the Habs post-season ends, so to will his NHL playing career.
This news might just further add to the spark beneath them as they enter the playoffs as the underdog; a role their have played well in prior seasons. The Habs snuck into the post-season at the last possible minute, defeating the Carolina Hurricanes in the eighty-second game of the season, and edging out the Columbus Blue Jackets by the slimmest of margins in the process.
See Also: Quincy Guerrier signs with the Montreal Alliance
Savard could now provide a similar sort of role as those that Carey Price and Shea Weber did for this, the youngest team to ever make it to the Stanley Cup playoffs. Ultimately, the last time the Habs made it to the playoffs, they too were the underdogs, and they took the whole hockey world by surprise by reaching the cup finals, only to be bested by the Tampa Bay Lightning. Montreal had no reason being in the play-offs that year, nor do they really this year – being in the third year of their rebuild and all.
It was a Cinderella run that also marked the last time Carey Price, then captain Shea Weber and Paul Byron would ever suit up for the Habs. A sacrifice of sorts. And now – the last time we see David Savard as a player in the NHL, will be as he plays a similar role.
Savard, the 34-year-old native of St-Hyacinthe, seemingly had made the decision to call it a career a few months ago, and while his team mates knew, it was kept from the media and the fans. Until now. While there has been quite a few fans unhappy that Arber Xhekaj has been sat out – this news might well put that all into perspective.
“It’s my last season,” Savard said after the Canadiens’ optional practice at the CN Sports Complex in Brossard. “It’s more about me, the way I feel, the way my body’s just handling the season. It’s something I talked about with my agent last year, after the season and in the summer, not knowing how I was going to feel at the end of this year.”
Savard wasn’t one of the Habs to practice in Brossard today, in an optional skate that saw several key members of the team stay off the ice, but as always, Savard was ready and willing to chat with the media anyway – finding the best possible time to announce his future with the team, while providing another spark for his team to ignite on.
This is a key member of his team, one that has been tasked with teaching the younger defenseman on the squad and one that has been, as captain Nick Suzuki said, “a big part of this rebuild”, and the tightly-nit squad will be wanting to do all they can to make the final days in Savard’s career as long and as best they can.
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Originally drafted by Columbus in the fourth round (94th overall) in 2009, he won a Stanley Cup in 2021 with Tampa Bay — coincidentally against Montreal. The next season, as a free agent, Savard joined the Canadiens, the team he had grown up idolizing – and it is only fitting now that his final days as an NHL player are going to be as a member of the Montreal Canadiens.
Savard has played 870 regular season games, scoring 54 goals and 242 points, but has been elemental as a shot blocking defenseman that has earned his paycheck by sticking up for his team mates. When Savard finally does hang up his skates for good, he will be missed – but as head coach Martin Saint-Louis alluded to today, there may well be room for him behind the bench on the Habs coaching staff.
