58 Days Until Opening Night

The former Lumber Jacket was fun to watch

David Savard was drafted 94^th overall in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft by the Blue Jackets. Savard, a true stay-at-home defenseman, didn’t score a lot of points, but he was a shot-blocking machine. Savard stands at 6-foot-1 and weighs 235 pounds, so it’s hard to get anything past his big body.

The year after he was drafted, he returned to his junior team, the Moncton Wildcats, where he would serve as the alternate Captain. He had his best season in junior, playing in 64 games while scoring 13 goals and adding 64 assists. In the playoffs, he would add another 15 points in 21 games. Being that he was a defense-first blue liner, reports are that the Blue Jackets convinced him to add more offense into his game in that final season in Moncton, and it worked.

The following season in 2010, Savard would turn pro. He played 72 games for the Springfield Falcons of the AHL. Savard would have a solid first season scoring 11 goals and getting 44 total points. The next two seasons Savard would split his time between Columbus and Springfield. He would play in 35 NHL games over those two seasons, netting 10 points. While in Springfield he scored 41 points.

He would make the Blue Jackets on a full-time basis in 2013 and never look back. From that point on, Savard became the steady defenseman that the CBJ needed. His second season in the NHL was his career year in terms of points production and still is to this day. He played in all 82 games, scored 11 goals, had 36 points, had 10 powerplay points, and played 23 minutes a game on average. He also had 105 blocks and 195 hits. The 2016-17 season saw the CBJ have their best season in their young history, and Savard had a good season as well. Although he only had 23 points, he had a team-best +- of +33, had 126 blocks, and 127 hits.

One of his best moments came against Tampa in the 2019 NHL playoffs with this goal.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdr6Lbhg38g title=[/embed]

Savard would play 10 seasons with Columbus. He scored 41 goals, 125 assists and totaled 166 points. He would average over 20 minutes of ice time, record 958 blocks, and have 1117 hits. He currently ranks 1^st all-time for defensemen in games played (597), and 5^th all-time in games played for all skaters. He’s 3^rd all-time for defensemen in goals scored (41), 4^th in assists (125), and 4^th in points scored (166).

Savard won a Stanley Cup after he was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2021. He then left to sign a contract with his hometown Montreal Canadiens in 2021 where he has two more years left there. Although his Habs team has not been good, Savard remains a steady presence on the Montreal Blue Line. He has 37 points over two seasons while blocking 303 shots over those two seasons, including last year where he blocked 176 shots. Savard is still young at 32, so he may even play another 4 or 5 years.

Savard was never a flashy guy, in fact, the flashiest thing about him was probably his trademark beard, but what he lacked in flash, he made up for with true defensive-minded hockey. He remains the favorite Blue Jacket of all time by many to this day.

Join Jason Newland's Columbus Blue Jacket page on Bunches, a new app that connects sports fans. Also, you can watch a new YouTube game show about the Blue Jackets, Around the Fifth Line.