Marc Savard Ready For NHL, Possible Candidate For Canadiens?

After coaching the Windsor Spitfires to within one win of the 2022 OHL Championship and a berth in the 2022 Memorial Cup, Marc Savard’s name could be a possible candidate for the Montreal Canadiens’ vacant assistant coaching position.

In a recent conversation with our colleagues at Boston Hockey Now, Savard confirmed that his phone has been ringing from interested NHL clubs, but indicated that unless an interview for a head coaching job comes his way, he will be happy to stay with the Spitfires for now.

“I am extremely happy with where I am now,” said Savard, who served as an assistant coach for the St. Louis Blues during the 2019-20 season. “We’ve got a great setup here, my family likes it a lot and we’ve got. great thing going with the team here. I’m getting calls and that’s great but at this point I’d be more interested in a head coaching job.”

That’s not to say that a team offering an assistant coach job, like the Montreal Canadiens, couldn’t come in this week or in the coming weeks with an offer that knocks his socks off, but it appears Savard doesn’t want to get stuck in that cycle of being type-casted as an assistant.

“If it was a perfect situation, I’d be an assistant, but I’m happy where I am now so it’s gotta be the right fit for my family and me to move again,” the former Boston Bruins center said.

Would Savard see the opportunity of coaching a rebuilding Montreal Canadiens next to Martin St. Louis as a perfect, long-term situation? There is an argument to be made that the energy and gravitas of the Hall of Famer might be enough to woo someone like Savard over to the dark side to help St. Louis with the waves of young players set to join the Canadiens down the line. It could be a challenge to pry him out of Windsor, but it’s the kind of opportunity that would make any coach think twice.

Out of respect for the teams that have called him regarding assistant coach jobs, Savard would not reveal if the Montreal Canadiens were one of them. With the loss of Luke Richardson, who was confirmed as head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday, having a coach with the playing experience and reputation of Savard would be a great asset to have, should he be open to an assistant coaching job down the line.

Sadly Marc Savard‘s career as an NHL player was cut short during the Bruins’ 2010-11 Stanley Cup season when he suffered his fifth concussion in a game in Colorado on Jan. 22, 2011. Shortly after that, he was ruled out for the season and never played an NHL game again. Savard finished his NHL career 207 goals and 499 assists in 807 regular season games and had eight goals and 14 assists in 25 Stanley Cup Playoff games. He officially retired on Jan. 22 2018 and seven years to the day of his last game.