Bruins Still Shopping Savard

Marc Savard signed a 7-year extension with the Boston Bruins back in December.

Even though the trade rumors surrounding Marc Savard have severely died down since the NHL draft concluded, new reports this week are indicating that the Boston Bruins are indeed still shopping their 33-year-old center in an attempt to make a trade involving him. The reports also claim, however, that many of the potential suitors for Savard are backing off due to the current investigation by the NHL of his 7-year contract. Most people expect that the investigation will come up empty, but in light of the league voiding New Jersey's recent agreement with Ilya Kovalchuk, there is the possibility that Savard's deal is in jeopardy as well. If the league finds that Savard's deal circumvents the salary cap policy (as a result of being too front-loaded to reduce the cap hit for his prime years) then the deal could be voided. However, most believe that the deal -- which Savard signed back in December -- is not in danger of being nullified.

The Bruins are currently over the cap, and they will need to make a move of some sort prior to Marco Sturm's return in November. Savard and Thomas have seemed like the likely targets to move all offseason, but Thomas has become a near impossible string to pull because of the actions of teams around the league. Hell, Antti Niemi can't even find work. I don't see the Bruins being able to ship Thomas at a hefty $5 million per-year price. So will they trade Savard? That remains to be seen. I think they're a great team either way, and they do have an overload at the center position. Still, though, trading away your (arguably) most talented offensive player might not be the key to improving the league's worst offensive attack from last season. With camp opening up on September 17th, we can expect to learn more in one direction or another within the coming weeks.