The Montreal Canadiens lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup Final, so they stole one of the players who put the Bolts over the top.
The Habs have signed defenseman David Savard to a four-year deal with an annual average value of $3.5 million.
Montreal then added to its offense by signing winger Mike Hoffman to a three-year, $13.5 million deal.
Savard was another building block to the Lightning winning their second straight title. Tampa acquired the 30-year-old from the Blue Jackets in a three-team trade in April. He didn't register a point in 14 regular-season games but had five assists in the playoffs.
Savard, who is coming off a five-year deal he signed with Columbus with a cap hit of $4.25 million, is not flashy, but he is the kind of stay-at-home defenseman who can form the basis of a shutdown pair.
With Hoffman, the Canadiens get a player who bet on himself last offseason after he left the Ottawa Senators to take a one-year, $4 million deal with the St. Louis Blues.
Hoping to build his value in St. Louis, Hoffman scored 17 goals and had 36 points in 52 games. The abbreviated season was the first in which the 31-year-old didn't score 20-plus goals when he played a full campaign.
His best season came in 2018-19 with the high-scoring Panthers, when he tallied 36 goals and 70 points in 82 games.
Hoffman had 61 points in 2016-17 when the Senators lost in seven games in the conference finals.
