Trade Notes: Savard, Chychrun, Toffoli

With some of the bigger names on the defensive trade market off the board, the attention has now turned to the secondary market leading up to tomorrow’s trade deadline. One of those defenseman, David Savard of the Montreal Canadiens, has seen an increase of interest over the last 24 hours according to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period.

In the third year of a four-year, $14MM contract signed with Montreal back in 2021, Savard’s name in the rumor mill should come as no surprise to him. Leading up to the trade deadline in 2021, as a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Savard was shipped to the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Tampa Bay Lightning, for a first- and third-round pick.

Carrying only one more year on his contract after this one, the Canadiens could be talked into retaining some money on Savard’s deal, but the return will have to be enticing enough. Fortunately, even though the organization as a whole has been disappointing this season, Montreal does have the internal infrastructure available to them on the blue line making the idea of parting with Savard logical.

Other trade notes:

• One defenseman who has seen his name pop up in trade speculation for the last few seasons is Jakob Chychrun of the Ottawa Senators. Although it appeared that Chychrun had finally found a long-term home in Ottawa, the new front office does not seem as convinced. TSN’s Bruce Garrioch is reporting that although nothing is imminent on the Chychrun front, General Manager Steve Staios continues to work the phones regarding a Chychrun deal.
• Trade speculation has begun to increase surrounding New Jersey Devils’ forward Tyler Toffoli tonight, especially after the scoring forward was scratched by the organization for trade-related reasons. With Jake Guentzel likely headed to the Carolina Hurricanes, many interested teams are now pivoting to Toffoli, who is viewed as a fallback option to Guentzel (X Link). It makes a lot of sense, as Toffoli could benefit a plethora of playoff-bound teams with 26 goals in 61 games for the Devils this year.