The Montreal Canadiens have announced that defenseman David Savard will be out indefinitely with an upper-body injury that’s believed to be his hand.
The injury occurred midway through the third period of Monday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres. Savard, 33, was trapped on the ice with a broken skate blade for more than a minute during a penalty kill, and likely injured his hand while blocking a shot. He didn’t return to the game after that shift, although at the time it was thought to be because of the skate blade. He finished the game with an assist, a shot and five blocked shots in 16:54 of ice time.
Savard has had a solid start to the season with two assists in five games before the injury. While he’s usually known for his defensive play, that has taken a significant step back so far this season, with the Habs surrendering 3.3 5v5 expected goals against per 60 when Savard is on the ice, a fair amount more than the 2.84 in the three seasons prior.
The Canadiens also announced that Gustav Lindstrom will be called up on an emergency basis to take Savard’s place in the lineup, and Justin Barron will likely slot into Savard’s spot on the top pairing alongside Mike Matheson, a pairing that has a 100% 5v5 expected goal share during their 1:18 of ice time together this season. Lindstrom has been held pointless so far in four games in the AHL with the Laval Rocket, while Barron has one goal in two games with the Habs.
Savard was a former fourth-round pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2009 NHL draft, and spent parts of 10 seasons with them before he was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2021 and won a Stanley Cup. He then signed a four-year contract with a $3.5 million cap hit with the Canadiens, a deal that is currently in it’s third year.
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