Stu Cowan: Canadiens have a tough decision to make with David Savard

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Canadiens defenceman Arber Xhekaj has been playing his best hockey in the NHL recently.

It’s not a coincidence that his partner for the last half-dozen games has been veteran David Savard.

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After practice last week, before the Canadiens headed out on a four-game road trip, I asked Xhekaj what he likes most about playing with Savard.

“Everything,” replied the 23-year-old Xhekaj, who is in his second NHL season. “I mean, you know where he’s going to be at all times on the ice. He’s always talking to me … he’s talking to me on the bench. He’s like coaching me as well.

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“Any time I make a bad play or pass, he’s always like: ‘Shake it off, we’ve got the whole game ahead of us here,’ ” Xhekaj added. “Just the way he talks to you and carries himself … he’s super easy to play with. You could put any guy with him and he’d be good.”

That’s exactly why Canadiens GM Kent Hughes won’t be willing to give the 33-year-old Savard away ahead of Friday’s 3 p.m. NHL trade deadline. The Canadiens are loaded with young defencemen and Savard can help bring the best out of them — like he has been doing recently with Xhekaj.

Lane Hutson — selected in the second round (62nd overall) of the 2022 draft — is expected to sign with the Canadiens after his season at Boston University comes to an end and can be expected to make his NHL debut shortly after that. Savard would be the perfect partner for Hutson as he gets his feet wet in the NHL — the same way the 13-year NHL veteran was for Kaiden Guhle as a rookie last season.

The offensive-minded Hutson has 12-27-39 totals in 30 games this season and the defensive-minded Savard would be a very good fit with him.

“He’s got a lot of experience,” Xhekaj said about Savard. “He’s got a lot of knowledge. He’s played so many years in the league and he’s been good. He could definitely be a pretty good coach (in the future) if he wanted to be. He’s a super-smart guy … him and (Mike) Matheson. We’re lucky to have those guys as the ones guiding us young guys.”

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You’d have to think it would take at least a first-round draft pick in exchange for Hughes to trade Savard ahead of Friday’s deadline. Savard has one season left on his contract with a US$3.5-million salary-cap hit and might have more — or at least equal — trade value at next year’s deadline. That would also give him another year to mentor the young Canadiens defencemen.

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Savard has already been traded at the deadline before — going from the Columbus Blue Jackets to the Tampa Bay Lightning in a three-team trade three years ago that also involved the Detroit Red Wings. Columbus received a first-round draft pick in 2021 and a third-round pick in 2022 in the deal. Savard helped the Lightning win the Stanley Cup — beating Montreal in the final — before signing with the Canadiens as a free agent that summer.

Jordan Harris said Savard is “like our dad” with the Canadiens’ young defence corps.

“Always in a great mood, always leading by example and very encouraging to young guys and friendly towards everyone,” the 23-year-old Harris said last week. “He’s the best. Definitely the ultimate teammate. We’re lucky to have a guy like that around. You can see why Tampa wanted him when they did and why he won a Cup. He’s been awesome.”

Savard realizes he could be traded again, but has said all season that his wish is to stay in Montreal.

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Head coach Martin St. Louis told reporters in Nashville Monday that Savard has a big value to the team — both on and off the ice. St. Louis realizes it’s “part of the business” that the Canadiens could lose Savard. St. Louis said he always loved his teammates as a player and as a coach he loves his players. He said that human side makes it difficult when a team loses a player — especially someone like Savard.

St. Louis noted that Savard’s play on the ice speaks for itself, but everything he does off the ice is tough to measure. On the ice, Savard can calm his teammates, block shots, is very good with puck possession and can also add to the offensive attack.

Before facing the Predators Tuesday night, Savard had 4-10-14 totals in 39 games and ranked third on the Canadiens in blocked shots with 109 — trailing Guhle (149) and Matheson (126) — despite missing 22 games with a fractured hand.

St. Louis said what Savard does off the ice has just as much value as what he does on it.

“He’s got a good personality, man,” Xhekaj said about Savard. “He’s always keeping it loose. He’s such a fun guy to be around all the time. There’s not one guy in the locker room who would say one bad thing about him. He’s super-funny, he always includes the young guys in everything. He’s great.”

scowan@postmedia.com

twitter.com/StuCowan1

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