Marc Savard hasn’t played a game since January of 2011 when a hit from former Bruin Matt Hunwick (albeit clean) put an end to his career. A year before that, and a few months removed of signing a seven-year contract extension, Matt Cooke delivered a cheap shot with an elbow to Savard’s head; suffering a Grade 2 concussion in the process.
Since his career was over for good, the Bruins kept Savard’s cap hit over the last few seasons and put him on LTIR before the start of each season. They don’t have to worry about that anymore after GM Don Sweeney traded his contract — along with Reilly Smith — to the Florida Panthers in exchange for Dorchester’s own Jimmy Hayes.