David Savard

David Savard
Born October 22, 1990
Saint-Hyacinthe, QC, CAN
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 219 lb (99 kg; 15 st 9 lb)
Position Defence
Shoots Right
NHL team Columbus Blue Jackets
National team  Canada
NHL Draft 94th overall, 2009
Columbus Blue Jackets
Playing career 2010present

David Savard (born October 22, 1990) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing for the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League. He was drafted by the Blue Jackets in the 4th round (94th overall) of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

Playing career

Born in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Savard was drafted by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 4th round (94th overall) of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, after his second junior season where he played as reliable defenseman with defensive skills.

With Columbus in 2013

The following season, by demand from the team that had drafted him, Savard started to support the offense a little more aiming to become a more complete player. Consequently, he was awarded many trophies at the end of his third junior season, such as the Émile Bouchard Trophy rewarding the best QMJHL Defensive defenseman and the Kevin Lowe Trophy awarded to the best QMJHL defenseman, while finishing first league scorer among defensemen, establishing a league record for assists as a defenseman.

In the same year, he was selected to participate to the Subway Super Series, wearing a Quebec jersey in the tournament. He was named the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) best defenseman, recognizing his remarkable season with the Moncton Wildcats of the QMJHL in 2009-2010.

The next year, while still being eligible to play for a junior team, the Columbus Blue Jackets assigned him to play in Springfield, their American Hockey League affiliate team. After an excellent pro training camp, the Blue Jackets decided Savard would progress faster at the AHL, following his high marks in junior hockey the former year.

Savard then donned the Springfield Falcons colors in the American Hockey League during the 2010–11 season where he finished as the team's top scoring defenseman, and second among the league's rookie defencemen.

David scored his first NHL Goal on February 7, 2012 against Minnesota Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom. After playing 31 games in the NHL that season at the age of 21, he was slowed by the injury he has inflicted in December 2012, shortly before the end of the lockout. At the Blue Jackets camp, he was not able to do justice at the beginning of a season that was going to be shortened, but still managed to be in he lineup for 4 of the 48 games of the team. In fact, Savard had taken the decision to delay surgery in the abdomen because he wanted to play in the National League, but it ultimately did not help his cause, often struggling to skate because of the pain. Therefore, he mainly evolved in the American League in 2012-13.

On July 15, 2013, as a restricted free agent, Savard re-signed to a one-year two-way contract with the Blue Jackets.[1]

Career Statistics

Regular season and playoffs

    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2007–08 Baie-Comeau Drakkar QMJHL 35 1 6 7 22
2007–08 Moncton Wildcats QMJHL 32 0 5 5 18
2008–09 Moncton Wildcats QMJHL 68 9 35 44 33 10 5 5 10 10
2009–10 Moncton Wildcats QMJHL 64 13 64 77 36 21 1 14 15 8
2010–11 Springfield Falcons AHL 72 11 32 43 18
2011–12 Springfield Falcons AHL 44 4 18 22 72
2011–12 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 31 2 8 10 16
2012–13 Springfield Falcons AHL 60 5 26 31 40 8 2 3 5 8
2012–13 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 4 0 0 0 0
2013–14 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 70 5 10 15 28 6 0 4 4 4
2014–15 Columbus Blue Jackets NHL 82 11 25 36 71
NHL totals 187 18 43 61 115 6 0 4 4 4

Notable awards and honours

References

External links

Preceded by
Dmitri Kulikov
Emile Bouchard Trophy
2009–10
Succeeded by
Simon Despres
Preceded by
Maxime Ouimet
Kevin Lowe Trophy
2009–10
Succeeded by
Andrew Randazzo
Preceded by
Jonathon Blum
CHL Defenceman of the Year
2009–10
Succeeded by
Ryan Ellis