Savard Follow Up

The Boston Bruins re-signed Marc Savard earlier today. The was deal reported by TSN, is a 7 year deal with a cap hit of 4.2 million dollars. Rumors before the deal was official, reported that the deal would be front loaded. This gives Marc Savard his money up front, and then a lower amount towards the end of the contract, which balances out the cap hit. So, if Savard’s play has drastically fallen off it makes his salary much easier for the Bruins to buy-out. Savard has been the Bruins key offensive player since he was signed in the off-season before the 06-07 season. He has led the team in points every season since he was signed.

With Savard now signed Peter Chiarelli can build around Marc Savard, Tim Thomas, and Zdeno Chara. Chara has one more season left on his deal after this season. With the Bruins up against the cap, expect Chara to sign a similar frontloaded deal like Savard. Savard is arguably the 2^nd most important player next to Chara on the Bruin roster. If Thomas did go down, like he did this past week, the Bruins have a capable back-up in Tukka Rask. Rask played 5 games straight going 4-0-1 in that stretch. Rask has made it known so far this season that he is the future, and that future is looking very bright. Rask has great composure, (except his famous milk crate act at the dunk last season) and he has great technique. He is very quick in the butterfly, and is able to move around his net very efficiently.

When Marc Savard went down with a foot injury in October the Bruins struggled to stay around .500. The Bruins also had many problems scoring goals, and even more problems on the Power Play. Without Savard the Bruins had one of the worst Power Plays in the league. With Savard out David Krejci struggled to put up points. Krejci also missed training camp because of a hip-surgery that he had in the off-season. Since Savard has come back though Krejci is starting to put up points again and appears to be finding his game. Marc Savard is a leader for the Bruins, and is a vital part of their team. He gives other players confidence in their game and takes the pressure off of players like Krejci, and all of a sudden Krejci is lighting it up. Having Savard in the line-up, takes a lot of pressure off of not only Krejci but also the rest of the team.

There are questions though, because it is unclear still who is going to play with Savard on the first line. Savard has played with the likes of Milan Lucic, Byron Bitz, Marco Sturm and Blake Wheeler so far this season. When Lucic is healthy he should be to the left of Savard, but who is going to be on his right? Wheeler has been playing the LW with Bitz on Savard’s right the past few games, but the Bruins would prefer to have Wheeler with Krejci and Ryder you would think. That line was very effective last season as they were among the league leaders in +/-.  The Bruins have to figure out if they want to stay with Bitz on his right or make a move. Should the Bruins get a pure goal scorer for Savard to work with like an Ilya Kovalchuk? Reuniting Kovalchuck and Savard sounds great, but to bring in Kovalchuk the Bruins are going to need to clear some cap space. This would probably mean that Ryder, Sturm, or even Patrice Bergeron could be moved. And to get Kovalchuk will Atlanta demand David Krejci or Rask?

Hockeybuzz.com was reporting that Jaromir Jagr may be interested in coming back to the NHL after playing in the KHL for a few seasons. Should the Bruins go after Jagr? If the Bruins can get him to sign a 1 year contract for the remainder of the season then it might be worth looking into. Jagr is a pure sniper that the Bruins desperately need, with the departure of Phil Kessel. Jagr is that 40+ goal guy the Bruins could use. Just imagine a line of Lucic-Savard-Jagr come playoff time. As long as Jagr hasn’t lost

much of his game since leaving for the KHL, it would make the Bruins a front runner favorite for the Stanley Cup. Signing Jagr would be ideal for a cup run because the Bruins would not have to give up prospects/picks to get him like they would Kovalchuk.