Habs Daily: Savard Trade Price Set High, Suzuki Shines

Check the latest Montreal Canadiens news, highlights, and stories you may have missed on Thursday.

Habs News

• Once again, Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki was front and centre when his team needed him most. The 24-year-old centre had a three-point effort against the Florida Panthers, once again providing the type of consistency the Canadiens desperately need to take the next step in their rebuild. Suzuki’s season totals now stand at 24 goals and 35 assists.   [Canadiens’ Nick Suzuki Stays Hot In Exciting Loss Vs Panthers]

• Florida head coach Paul Maurice had very nice things to say about Montreal Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki, going as far as comparing him to Panthers captain Sasha Barkov. [Florida Hockey Now]

• Piere LeBrun mentioned there’s an ongoing conversation as to whether the Canadiens should move defenceman David Savard by the trade deadline. According to LeBrun, the Habs have set a high price seeing as they’re not in any rush to move the veteran defenceman. It would reportedly take a first-round pick (or the equivalent) to convince Habs general manager Kent Hughes that moving Savard is the right decision. There’s certainly value in keeping a guy like Savard around. He’s your classic ‘glue guy’, helping a young locker room traverse the chilly waters of an NHL rebuild. But if we remove emotion from the equation, he’s a 33-year-old defenceman who is unlikely to play a big part in the team’s rebuild. Moving a defenceman who has struggled to produce above-average numbers is rarely a bad idea. If the Habs can somehow secure a first-round pick on top of liberating minutes for young defencemen they’d be wise to pounce on the opportunity.

https://t.co/REeF3spRxp pic.twitter.com/TgrGX6iirP

— carina (@goalcauf) February 29, 2024

• Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman confirmed the price tag on Savard is much higher than some would assume. The right-handed defenceman is drawing interest, it just remains to be seen if anyone is willing to pay Hughes’ price. Given his history, it’s fair to say that Hughes is not bluffing in this particular situation. He’s a general manager who sets his price and waits to see if anyone can meet it. If not, he’s perfectly content holding onto his assets.

"Everybody is looking around and saying 'okay, who's that next righty on your list?'"@FriedgeHNIC and @JeffMarek sort through the remaining defencemen available with Chris Tanev off the board.#LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/OPjMDcHYA8

— Sportsnet 590 The FAN (@FAN590) February 29, 2024

• Former Habs goaltender Jocelyn Thibault announced he was resigning as the executive director of Hockey Quebec. Thibault was attempting to modernize the approach in a desperate bid to improve the quality of hockey players coming from La Belle Province, among other things. However, the various regions in Quebec were not willing to play ball, leaving Thibault frustrated to the point that he ended his mandate after just 27 months.

Usé par la résistance, Jocelyn Thibault quitte son poste de DG de Hockey Québec après 27 mois. Une surprise, mais surtout une mauvaise nouvelle qui en dit long. @RDSca https://t.co/T2aETQGXDz

— Eric Leblanc (@eleblancRDS) March 1, 2024

National Hockey Now Network

• Ivan Demidov has recently been just about everywhere when it comes to rankings. In this case, Demidov could be an option for the Blackhawks if they don’t win the 2024 Draft Lottery again this season. [Chicago Blackhawks ]

• Four trades and a little over nine months into the tenure of Craig Conroy as general manager of the Calgary Flames has given us a solid sample of the 52-year-old’s approach to dealing out and acquiring NHL talent. [Calgary Flames]

• The Pittsburgh Penguins made the unsurprising move of placing right-winger Bryan Rust on injured reserve. The team also recalled forward Jonathan Gruden from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. [Pittsburgh Penguins]