Little Things - Carter Savoie

Sniper developing from AJHL to NCAA

These “Little Things” series will be some individual breakdowns with video clips, analysis and little things I see while watching shifts of a certain player/team over several games.

Carter Savoie - University of Denver

Screenshot via EliteProspects

I read a couple articles on Carter Savoie last season while he was playing for the Sherwood Park Crusaders of the AJHL. A highly skilled winger who was always mentioned in the same breathe as his teammate Michael Benning. The two were lighting up the AJHL (as you can see by his numbers in 2019-20) and had been childhood friends who had grown up on the same street and were now living their hockey dreams together. They both committed and are now playing for the University of Denver, and both were drafted in the 2020 NHL Draft (Benning, 95th overall to Florida. Savoie, 100th overall to Edmonton).

Savoie specifically stood out to me in reading about him. The descriptions that I love to see kept showing up. “The puck just follows him”. “He makes it look easy”. In the one Athletic article I read about him and Benning his GM in Sherwood Park, Kyle Chase, even admitted that his true upside may not even be visible at the AJHL level because the game seemed so easy to him.

So, I watched 2 games from his 19-20 season in the AJHL and 3 games from his current season at the University of Denver and noticed many little things that he does well.

Good Habits - Follow Shots To The Net

Savoie does a really good job of changing his body shape while shooting and creating different kinds of shots. But he also follows many of these shots to the net. In the AJ, his first shots often went in, but as he moves up levels this habit is going to come in handy as he can show second and third efforts on rebounds and maintain offensive zone possession for his team. It also hints to why people may be saying the “puck follows him”.

In the clip below, Savoie is # 8 in white playing in the AJHL for his Sherwood Park Crusaders. On the powerplay, he has an excellent route high to receive the pass to his strong side. He then attacks downhill for a shot/pass and jumps past the defender to attack his rebound.

He has carried these habits into college. Here he’s still # 8 but has changed colours to the University of Denver maroon. After the quick shot, he realizes the rebound may be accessible and attacks quickly to follow his shot to the net. He doesn’t get a rebound this time but he maintains possession 5v5 for his team.

“The Puck Just Seems To Find Him”

A phrase said to describe many smart hockey players. Rather than him continuously getting lucky and pucks being magnetized to his stick, the puck always seems to find him because he is an expert at understanding spacing and timing. He doesn’t rush to areas, plays between checks and arrives at the correct time to win pucks.

Below, he doesn’t rush to the net. Mistakes can be made when we hurry to a spot on the ice before we should be there. He shows poise and patience by letting his checks clear to the net, creating a little soft area for himself and then arrives just on time to get a shot. Did he know that the puck was going to bounce right to him? No, but if it was to take such a bounce he was going to be in the exact right position and ready to pull the trigger.

Here, he is waiting for a one-timer pass. Instead his teammate tries to find the lane back door. It’s stick checked away, but because he continues on a good path to the net and is still always ready to get a shot off, he’s in the right spot to be rewarded with a goal. This may seem small, but too many times a player may stop up because they NEED that one timer. Or after the pass wasn’t made to them, stare up to the sky in disbelief and completely miss this kind of opportunity. One thing I consistently saw in Savoie’s game was he never got discouraged. If a play didn’t go his way, he just moved on to the next best decision he could make. Never complained or sulked. He also falls quite a bit from his consistent effort, as we see here. The cellies may need a little work after a long offseason.

System Check: Return to D-Zone (U of Denver)

I did notice a few team tendencies from watching these games and one thing I really liked from Denver was in their Return to D-Zone (backtracking towards your own net/re-entering your D-Zone to defend) they weren’t afraid to quickly overload one side of the ice and stop an opponent’s O-Zone time before it even starts. Savoie while being a left winger, is on the right side to help immediately on the RTDZ, creating a 4v2 outnumbered situation for Denver and they win the puck. Although they just punted and didn’t turn it into anything, they saved some effort in having to defend any sort of North Dakota attack. Work smarter not harder.

Their weak side D was actually preparing to jump up into the rush if a breakout pass could have been completed. If the Denver player who retrieved the puck had attempted to open up to the middle of the ice, he would have seen options and they may have been able to create a quick transition the other way. But I digress.

Passing - Drops & Sauce

Savoie has an elite shot. But with that, comes increased chances for passing lanes as defenders have to respect it and you draw sticks and eyes to yourself. Savoie is very creative on his entries, attacking diagonally across the dot line whenever he can. These first 2 clips show him with a good shape while cutting into the middle, allowing him to continue to carry the puck and try for a shot, or drop it to his teammate as he does below. The first one is even more creative as he just lets the puck roll off his stick and uses his momentum to create the drop. Added level of deception.

He also continues his solid habits in both instances by opening up and continuing his path to the net.

If attacking the middle of the ice isn’t available, or a more clear 2v1 opportunity presents itself, Savoie can drop a pass into a bucket for a teammate. A common skill possessed by scorers that often gets overlooked is their passing ability. He can thread these saucer passes in because he knows how and where HE likes to receive them if the roles were reversed.

I also really like how he stops at the net on that last clip. One habit that obsessed coaches like me notice.

Intangibles - Compete & Second Effort

Savoie hasn’t gotten this far in his hockey career on his skill alone. While he can clearly score and possesses some high end offensive instincts, one tiny moment stood out that is important to me. Most would brush this off as inconsequential but to me, it matters.

In the clip below, he gets his stick slashed out of his hands which leads to a penalty. But he doesn’t know that immediately as his back is turned to the referee. Oftentimes, you see a player turn to complain to the ref or put their hands in the air. Instead, Savoie doesn’t care about anything other than picking up his stick as quickly as possible, getting back up and getting back in the play. Something very, very small - but that kind of effort you usually only find in the game’s best.

The Kid Can Shoot

Savoie can change his body shape and use his creativity to get off a ton of different shots. Let’s end this off with his game winner against North Dakota, with 2 minutes left in a tie game. Not bad for a freshman.

It also looks like he has fine tuned the celly.

Savoie is fun to watch, and I hope he continues to develop and transfer these skills to the next level.