I am a huge Habs supporter and a fan of David Savard, and I question the value of the trade. It's too much for a guy at the end of his career who is a warrior, but also a "toolsy" defender at best.

I don’t see Savard being the casualty « to make room for Hutson ». Not the same type of defenseman at all, and they most likely want Savard around to pair with Hutson at the beginning.

I dont think trade savard create space for hutson
LD
1.Mathesson
2.Ghule
3.Struble
4.Xhekaj
5.Hutson
6.Engstrom
7.Trudeau

RD (without Savard)
Kovacevic
Barron
Mailloux
Reinbacher
Konyuchkov ( not before 2026 )

If we are making room for Hutson, then Struble is Laval bound. I am projecting a D lineup of

Matheson-Guhle
Hutson-Savard
Xhekaj-Kovacevic
If Harris is healthy be the TDL then he will be traded or the 7th D man, if not then Struble stays up as the 7th D man to rotate in and out with Kovacevic

I agree from a utilization perspective. This is more a numbers game, you can only dress so many defensemen. And as I wrote in my description, there's still Barron and Mailloux on the outside looking in, even with the Harris injury AND the hypothetical Savard trade.

I did another ACGM a while back where I discussed preferring to keep Savard, but with the trade "rumors" surrounding him (with teams maybe focusing on him after Tanev gets moved), if a 1st rd pick is on the table, it would be hard to say no that deal. Not only that, Habs already have a perfect replacement for him with Kovacevic, who's really underrated imo.

I don't think Savard will get the Habs a 1st,even with retention but I also think MTL should keep him.

I have worked security for events with Habs players a couple of times the last 2 years and I can say that Savard is lowkey the ''Captain'' in public situations, it's Montreal so obviously his french is the edge but guys look to him and a lot of guys joke around with him, it's very noticeable. I could be wrong but, I'd be surprised if he isn't the most liked guy in the locker room (extremely outside perspective).
I think having 2 of the 6 D being vets is good, MTL needs to decide which of the young guys are 100% not part of the future and see what they can do there. Savard won with TBL, he isn't ring chasing either if that was his desire he wouldn't have signed in MTL in the first place

I really disagree with this. Sending down Struble (or even Xhekaj) to Laval to make room for Hutson is sending the wrong message. Unless their games are horrible and their confidence is going down, they shouldn't be sent down. Adding to this, scratching them when they don't "deserve it" could lead to another Farrell fiasco from last season. Remember St-Louis comments when Hughes (allegedly) forced him to have Farrell in the lineup, because he promised that he would if Farrell signed. I doubt they do the same again this year. Although Hutson's circumstance is a bit different than Farrell's.

MSL and Hughes already have a 3 goalie rotation what makes you think they wouldn't do it with the 3rd pairing LD? You have to make room somewhere on the left side. Hughes already said he isn't shopping Savard and would like to keep him, so IMO he will be with the team next year unless someone offeres something crazy like a top prospect + 1st (just an example). So the remaining options are as follows

1. Trade Harris (if healthy), lineup Matheson-Guhle, Hutson-Savard, Xhekaj-Kovacevic with Struble rotating in every other game
2. Trade Kovacevic and Harris (if healthy) call up Barron to play 3RD. Line up Marheson-Guhle, Hutson-Savard, Xhekaj-Barron with Struble rotating in every other game.
3. Trade Harris and Struble, call up Barron and line up Matheson-Guhle, Hutson-Savard, Xhekaj-Barron with Kovacevic as the 7th D man.
4. Send Hutson to Laval and trade Harris

There are many other less likely scenarios but no matter which one you do, someone who "deserves" to be playing will either be sitting, Traded or sent to Laval. It's just the nature of having too many NHL D men and not enough positions available

We are definitely not in the market for a defensemen. Theo comes back and we’re fine. He’s already skating. If we’re using a first it’ll be on a proven scoring forward

Savard was the only one I could think of that "could" have interest to VGK from MTL perspective. More than likely their AGM and scout were looking at Henrique from ANA for sure.