Canadiens’ Savard on Oilers’ Radar as Blue Line Trade Upgrade

The Edmonton Oilers are eyeing potential defensive reinforcements, with names like Marcus Pettersson being floated around, among others. This week, a Montreal Canadiens defenseman made the list of possible targets, that being David Savard. He is emerging as a name of interest and Dave Pagnotta of The Fourth Period discussed the Oilers’ ongoing concerns with defensive play and goaltending during an appearance on TSN Radio in Montreal.

Despite a lack of scoring, Pagnotta reported that the Oilers are looking to upgrade their blue line and the team has identified the need to improve in that area as a priority.

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“Again, it comes down to defensive play and goaltending for them, and I think that’ll be the storyline for them the rest of the season,” Pagnotta noted. His comments suggest the move might not come right away, but potentially closer to the trade deadline.

Why David Savard for the Oilers?

Given the Oilers’ struggles—currently second-last in the NHL on the penalty kill—adding a player with Savard’s physical and defensive abilities could provide a crucial boost. One could make the argument he’s not much of an upgrade offensively over what the team already has, but the Oilers are getting offense from their blue line. In fact, outside of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the top three scorers on the Oilers are defensemen — Evan Bouchard, Mattias Ekholm, and Darnell Nurse. More offense is necessary for the Oilers to win games, but it needs to come from their forwards.

The problem is the money and more available to them at the deadline as the team accrues cap space, Edmonton needs to be strategic. While Savard’s $3.5 million cap hit is manageable, the Oilers can’t throw that money away if he’s not the right fit and they lack the draft assets needed for a blockbuster trade if they want to aim higher.

Oilers’ GM Stan Bowman is monitoring the trade market and if the right deal materializes, he will pull the trigger. Is Savard the right deal? His defensive reliability could be what Edmonton needs.

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