David Savard

[CBJWerenski8]

I think it's time we talk about Savvy. He played great last night (most minutes played) and is on the top pairing only a year after being stapled to the 3rd pairing or even scratched. His improvement from 2 years ago is outstanding, and I think we can all agree that he is a very good defenseman for us.

The question is, is he actually a top pairing dman or is his ceiling still only top 4? He can run the point on the PP and unlike alot of our Dmen he can get it through traffic. I think he's been one of the greatest stories on our team the past few years, and I hope he continues beasting

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[WannabeFinn]

I see him kinda like Jack Johnson, solid defender who will be able to put up a good chunk of points and can log huge minutes. However, just because he can play big minutes doesn't mean that he should play big minutes.

He's far too young for me to make any bold claims but I'm just gonna say that I don't think his potential is top pairing, at least on a good team. Would be cool if he proved me wrong.

 

[CBJx614]

I will be the first to admit I wrote him off before last season but he really has proved me wrong. At this point I think he's still a top 4 dman, but with the way he's playing he could be a top pairing dman by the end of the season.

 

[Fro]

wasn't watching the defense much, but i do remember a couple of times he overskated the puck...but they weren't in situations where it was that big of an issue...over all, the defense played well...I don't see him as a 1/2 Dman, but he hasn't looked out of place up there...

 

[thebus2288*]

He can run the point on the PP and unlike alot of our Dmen he can get it through traffic.

Hmmm. But whats his corsi and possession look like?

Johnson, Murray, Savard are going to be an awesome 1, 2, 3 in the next near future. None of them may be a true legit "2-way" #1 defenseman, but each is (or soon to be) a very good #2 guy with a good all around game. I'd say out of the 3 Savard is already the best defensively, but all 3 I'd consider offensive defenseman. That's why I truly believe our biggest need is a LEGIT top-4 defensive defenseman. Prout isn't there yet.

 

[CBJx614]

Hmmm. But whats his corsi and possession look like?

Johnson, Murray, Savard are going to be an awesome 1, 2, 3 in the next near future. None of them may be a true legit "2-way" #1 defenseman, but each is (or soon to be) a very good #2 guy with a good all around game. I'd say out of the 3 Savard is already the best defensively, but all 3 I'd consider offensive defenseman. That's why I truly believe our biggest need is a LEGIT top-4 defensive defenseman. Prout isn't there yet.

I agree. The only reason Prout is here is because his big ass body. Once Heatherington is in the picture I think Prout is gone.

 

[TheOllieC]

I don't think he'll ever be a legit top pairing dman but at this rate he should be a solid second pairing option for a while.

 

[Crede777]

I don't know if he thinks the game well enough to be a top pairing guy, but he has already surprised multiple times in his career so who knows?

 

[v3rs3]

The only thing he's done since he was drafted was get better, every year. I haven't seen that let up yet.

 

[thebus2288*]

I don't know if he thinks the game well enough to be a top pairing guy, but he has already surprised multiple times in his career so who knows?

He arguably "thinks the game" better than any other defenseman on our team...And you have to remember the guy is only 23. Same age as Erixon. He was a pretty big point getter in juniors and played really well the couple years he was in the AHL. He won CHL or QMJHL D Man of the year. WHY do you feel he cant be a top pair guy?

Like not being able to prove Johansens attitude issues or Wisniewski's negative impact I cant PROVE Savard is in "great" shape, but you can see it when he plays. The last half of last year and this year you can tell his overall quickness is way above what it was 2-3 years ago.

 

[major major]

Savard is our best all-around RHD. That's why he gets the top-pair minutes. But I wouldn't put him in the top 60 D in the league (my definition of "true top pair"), at least not yet. I'll stay agnostic on whether he'll get there - Savard has shown in the past that its not wise to bet against him.

And by the way, I'm confident in saying that Murray and Erixon are our two best thinkers from the backend. Savard is pretty good, just not on their level.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

Echoing what many have said - I had lost any faith in him prior to last season. Happy to have been proven wrong. And again echoing - I don't see him as a true top pair d, but would be happy to be proven wrong.

 

[Tyler Durden]

Leafs/Ducks fan here. I must say Savard has been really good for you! I think one of your best dman all season correct? I must ask does he drop the gloves? I know he plays on the top line with Johnson but does he also play on the top PP? Thanks.

 

[stevo61]

Leafs/Ducks fan here. I must say Savard has been really good for you! I think one of your best dman all season correct? I must ask does he drop the gloves? I know he plays on the top line with Johnson but does he also play on the top PP? Thanks.

He gets some decent PP time but surprisingly of his 11 goals only 3 are from the PP. Dude has a cannon so maybe next year without Wiz he'll be more relied on for that. As for fighting... nah but I have noticed him and others being a little more aggressive with their physical play. I think have Boone and Dubi back set the tone for the team. Maybe under normal circumstances he doesnt get over 22 minutes a night in his 2nd season but all things considered he's handled it quite admirably

 

[Nikita Gucherov]

Echoing what many have said - I had lost any faith in him prior to last season. Happy to have been proven wrong. And again echoing - I don't see him as a true top pair d, but would be happy to be proven wrong.

I don't see how he is not a true top pair D... He is no Lidstrom but the guy does everything for Columbus. PP, PK, hits, scores and is showing he can log big minutes against opponents' top 6. What more does a guy on a top D pairing do?

 

[DarkandStormy]

I don't see how he is not a true top pair D... He is no Lidstrom but the guy does everything for Columbus. PP, PK, hits, scores and is showing he can log big minutes against opponents' top 6. What more does a guy on a top D pairing do?

He's not by any standard (other than TOI) a "top pair" guy. Better suited in a bottom 4 role, but we just don't have anyone else to play on the top pair currently.

 

[cslebn]

I'd say middle 4 guy right now with maybe the upside to a #2 if he keeps improving at this rate. He's got beastly strength I wish he would use it more and more intelligently (many times he uses and gets a bad penalty for it).

I don't think he's a true top pair guy at the moment and that's because of his postioning and a lack of that quality you find in top guys. Doughty, Petirangelo, Weber, Suter, Keith, Seabrook, etc all make the game seem effortless. Savard does not. He works hard (which is good) but he does it to overcome natural shortcomings and that's why I would hold back his ratings. Likely a good 2/3 guy long term at this rate, basically someone who is better than your normal second pair but not a shining example of the rock you want as your true top pair.

 

[Nordique]

24 years of age, and 180 games played. That is young by NHL standards for dmen. He's all over the place still imo, he has his moments in both directions. Maturity can't hurt, expecting more from him next season.

 

[blahblah]

Whiplash makes some insanely dumb decisions with the puck and is pretty poor on the breakout. His neutral zone play is crap. He plays 2 on 1's pretty poorly. Players get behind him too often as he's in lala land. There is a reason he's like -5 billion.

His best play is in the offensive zone. He's got a pretty good shot.

Richards is determined to play right/left on the same pairing. He better get his head screwed on straight or we're going to continue to suffer.

I don't see him anything like JJ, as someone mentioned. JJ has more physical "tools" and isn't quite a dumb.

Either this team believes he is really top pairing material or they feel they don't have a better option at this time. I sure hope it's the latter.

I really hope he develops more than what we have now. I really can't stand the guy (by that I mean his play). I doubt he's going to get much better. I would like to be wrong.

 

[blahblah]

I'd say middle 4 guy right now with maybe the upside to a #2 if he keeps improving at this rate. He's got beastly strength I wish he would use it more and more intelligently (many times he uses and gets a bad penalty for it).

He hasn't improved this season. Same player as last season.

 

[Johansen2Foligno]

He hasn't improved this season. Same player as last season.

Hmm any particular off the ice reasons this might be occurring?

 

[major major]

Suffice it to say I don't agree with much of Blah's description of Savvy's game.

IF he was that bad of a player he would have a much worse plus/minus because he plays the hardest minutes and gets the worst zone starts on a bad team. (Savard is -4, BTW, not -5 Billion, maybe you were thinking of JJ ).

He's a smart player with limited mobility. Second pair quality, with a top pair job.

 

[Forepar]

I'm at times frustrated with Savard, but to say that he hasn't improved?
He was a +2 last year on a team that made the playoffs.
This year he is a -4 (not -5 billion), on a team that is negative 50 in goal differential.

2013-14, 70 games, 5 g, 10 a, 15 pts, 28 PIM, 63 SOG.
2014-15, 75 games, 11 g, 19 a, 30 pts, 67 PIM, 97 SOG.

He has occasional struggles in D zone - he's in his second NHL year.
Hard to put a number on it, because D is so hard to evaluate, but imo he is definitely improved from year 1 to year 2, and has gotten better as year 2 has progressed. Not so many "oh ****" moments attributable to him last half of season. I don't know what to make of Corsi/Fenwick stats - they show him as having 3 PP goals and 6 ES goals, when he has 11 goals overall...so I have issues with Stats.HockeyAnalysis's accuracey, but assuming correct, unless 2 goals are SH, which I don't think is accurante. FF% is 46.4% this year, 47.0% last year on a better team overall without injuries and without poor month of goaltending in November....I don't think Corsi/Fenwick are great measures of D-men especially, but the tone that Savard is just awful is not supported by stats, nor by eye test lately. Yes, he could get MUCH better, but he's on that track as late-developing D-man (as most D are late).

 

[blahblah]

I'm at times frustrated with Savard, but to say that he hasn't improved?
He was a +2 last year on a team that made the playoffs.
This year he is a -4 (not -5 billion), on a team that is negative 50 in goal differential.

Meh, didn't realize that he's picked up the pace from the -15 he was earlier in the season. An extra 5 minutes a game will get you more points.

No, he hasn't improved in 2 of the 3 zones. His improvement is in the offensive zone. He is garbage on the breakout and in the neutral zone. Never seen someone pass the puck to a checked player in my life. The guy receiving the puck can't do a damn thing. He gives up too many odd man rushes.

I'll be curious to see what his advanced stats look like; pretty sure I remember them being epic garbage the fist half of the season.

We would love him to be a top pairing guy, but I'm willing to bet our top pairing is a huge reason why we give up so many shots per game.

Oh and we're a -25, not -50. Might be a little worse with shootouts calculated in.

When I watch him, I see little to no improvement in the defensive and neutral zones.

 

[SuperGenius]

Meh, didn't realize that he's picked up the pace from the -15 he was earlier in the season. An extra 5 minutes a game will get you more points.

lol. you're usually pretty logically sound even when you have an illogical position, but this is nuts.

If he sucked as you contend, the extra five minutes would easily lead to more goals against - certainly more likely than points for. I get you don't like the guy's game, but you're really cherrypicking now if you can't acknowledge this as a positive.