After their magical playoff run last season, the Montreal Canadiens looked like a different team when training camp rolled around last September. Carey Price wasn’t playing for the foreseeable future. Shea Weber was on long-term injured reserve and likely retiring. The organization even lost an offer sheet war, with Jesperi Kotkaniemi signing a one-year, $6.1 million contract with the Carolina Hurricanes. Montreal could not have scripted a worse offseason for itself if it tried.
Former Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin needed replacements and needed them fast, but with the shortened offseason, he had little time to make that happen. In a quest to add depth and shore up their defense, Bergevin inked David Savard to a four-year deal with an average annual value (AAV) of $3.5 million in July. On the surface, a seemingly reasonable contract. Montreal was getting a reliable stay-at-home defenseman with valuable postseason experience. Not to mention, Savard had helped the Tampa…
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