CBJ of the Day: David Savard

After a longer hiatus than originally planned, CBJ of the Day is back. Last time we looked at Brandon Saad, which leads us to today’s player. The 24 year old St. Hyacinthe, Quebec native who goes by the name of David Savard spent plenty of time on the ice last season and almost tied the franchise record for goals by a defenseman. This performance forced the team to give him a nearly $3M raise just a few days ago when he signed a massive five year extension which will take him through 2021. This contract will likely end up being a bargain deal for the Jackets if he continues to play at the level he current has been.

At the beginning part of the 2014-2015 season, David Savard took a large amount of the blame for various mistakes. Untimely turnovers, missing the net in an important situation, taking a bad penalty, etc. were often associated with his name. However when the Jackets began to be severely injury plagued, his reputation changed quickly. He began to play alongside of Jack Johnson on the Blue Jackets top pairing. While he needs to improve in a majority of areas in order to become a regular top 2 defenseman, some portions of his game are already there. His goals for example led  Jackets defensemen and he has proven he can play big minutes, however his playmaking needs to greatly improve as well does his puck control and defensive presence. Of course Savard is only 24 and has a lot of time to improve which he likely will do. Do not be surprised if we see him break the franchise record for goals by a defenseman this year, I project him to get roughly 14 of them. With the new additions that the Jackets have made this offseason, as well as the growth of the defensive corps that is bound to happen over the course of the regular season; expect Savard to play better than ever and possibly even take over the role of the Blue Jackets’ top defenseman.