Serge Savard: the Habs will have to “be bigger physically”

When Serge Savard talks to the media, he’s never afraid to say what he thinks of the Canadiens’ current edition. He offers his opinion on a variety of subjects and sometimes throws a few arrows, especially at Marc Bergevin.

But this time, he focused on the players’ physique.

The Canadiens’ former general manager believes that the team will have to look for physically bigger players if it hopes to compete in the playoffs in the coming seasons.

That’s what he told Benoît Rioux of Le Journal de Montréal on Tuesday, during the fifth edition of Serge Savard’s Invitational.

The good news for Savard is that he believes the Habs are heading in that direction, but he feels they’re still missing a few big-name players to emulate the Florida Panthers.

Savard liked the model presented by the Panthers in the last playoffs. Florida had a big team on the ice, with only one player under 5 feet 11 inches: Ryan Lomberg.

And let’s just say that Lomberg was able to bring a certain physicality to the table, even though he was the smallest player on the team.

Looking at the biggest teams in the 2023-24 season, according to Elite Prospects, the Canadiens were 30th in the NHL with an average height of 6 feet 1 inch. In terms of weight, Montreal was in 7th place with an average of 200 lbs.

Average is fine, but what Savard really seems to want is a core of big players. Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart, Anton Lundell and Carter Verhaeghe are all 6’1″ or taller.

Serge Savard is happy to have Juraj Slafkovsky in the Habs organization, but would like to have more. For now, Montreal is counting on Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield, who are both under six feet.

If he stays healthy, Kirby Dach can help out physically at 6’4″.

However, the former Canadiens defenseman is satisfied with the work of Kent Hughes and his gang in the last two drafts. He thinks the right selections will pay off in the end.

Savard even took the time to launch his usual arrow at Marc Bergevin, but this time indirectly, saying only that management has been better structured in recent years.