Team: U.S. National Team Development Program U18 (#19) – USHL/NTDP
Date of Birth: 05/15/2003 – Scottsdale, AZ, USA
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 181 lbs
Position: Center
Handedness: Left
Player Introduction
Red Savage hasn’t caught the eye of many public scouts throughout the 2020-21 season. He isn’t an overly-flashy player who draws the oohs-and-ahhs of social media. But he may just be one of the truest playmakers in the 2021 NHL Draft class. Savage has a great passing ability and great play-reading, forming a player that is constantly capable of creating chances for those around him.
He takes this playmaking ability one step further, though, with a great hockey mindset fleshing out an already strong package. Savage is a smart and relentless player capable of fitting into virtually any role. While he may not always be the strongest on the ice, Savage’s work ethic helps him do it all, with his hockey IQ making him capable of outthinking any opponent he can’t over-power.
He’s a gritty, ball-and-chain player capable of putting up high scoring totals. The eye might not always catch him but Savage’s impact is felt all over the ice and was paramount to the NTDP’s success this year. He doesn’t excel in one area, making him difficult to project for some, but Savage’s variety of talents and great hockey IQ lend themselves to great steps forward.
Mindset
Savage’s terrific hockey-smarts come as no surprise. He’s the son of Brian Savage, a local-legend in Montreal and 12-year NHL veteran. Red also has three great-uncles who played in the NHL, including 19-year NHL (and 3-year WHA) veteran Larry Hillman. Red’s roots are trenched deep in hockey and he’s learned plenty from Brian, and his family, as a result. When asked how having such a great player as a father has impacted his career, Red told Recruit Scouting:
The biggest lessons I’ve learned from my dad over the past couple years is preparation and work ethic. If you prepare correctly and put in the work off of the ice you will gain confidence and will give yourself the best opportunity to succeed on the ice.
Above all else, Brian taught Red that a healthy mindset, confidence, and a persistence to improve is what can make-or-break players. So it’s no surprise that Red approaches every game with the intense focus that he does. His playmaking abilities have jumped off the page this season. He’s one of the most important players on the USNTDP, making an impact in all three zones. And yet, when asked what the most important part of his game was, Red reached back to what Brian had taught him.
I think the most important part of my game is my tenacity. I have really focused on trying to make an impact in every game that I play in whether or not I make it on the score sheet. My tenacity allows me to break up plays and force turnovers.
Red Savage’s mindset is so far beyond his years. He’s incredibly mature for 18 and humbly-determined to become the best NHL player he can be. His hockey-genius, determination, and tenacity bleed into every aspect of his game, serving as the backbone to a diverse, impactful skillset. This mindset is what, in part, led to Savage being named USA’s captain at the 2021 IIHF World U18 Championship; a letter that Savage wore with expressed-pride throughout the tournament.
Offensive Zone Setups
But outside of the non-tangibles, Savage’s play is incredibly interesting. Unfortunately, for the same reasons that make it interesting, it’s not very easy to break down. His ability as a high-end passer headlines his game but he does so much in each of the three zones. With such a diversified skillset, it’s hard to highlight individual attributes. It’ll be easiest to instead look at Savage’s performance zone-by-zone.
Net Front
With that said, his largest impact is felt in the offensive zone. His great awareness lends itself to a Swiss Army Knife style of offensive ability. Savage has three different go-to’s in the offensive end, with each requiring a different skillset. The most tangible of the trio is his ability in front of the net. While his great smarts still bleed through into this area of the ice, Savage’s work in the low-slot largely comes from a fearless grit and, thanks to some solid awareness, a good ability to bury loose pucks. He’s also fairly elusive, able to sneak around defenders he can’t overpower, or out-skill. In fact, of Savage’s 18 goals this year, 14 came from the low-slot. While Savage may not be the strongest player — fairly average in that category and room for improvement — he manages results nonetheless. It’s not the main focus of his play but Savage has built up a strong ability in front of the net, one that will only continue to adapt to the increase in strength and physicality he’s bound to face at the professional level.
Board Play
The same gritty, elusive play that keeps him strong in front of the net also benefits Savage in heaps outside of the slot. He can be an aggressive forward and shows no fear in diving into puck battles in the corners or along the boards. His ability to overpower, or out-skill, players in the corners proved strong. But what made his skill along the boards truly stand out was his ability to gain possession and separation, even in tight situations. Savage is a possession-monster with a strong ability to create breathing room along the boards. This gives him plenty of room to work, using cutbacks along the boards, rotations behind the net, and direct attacks into the slot to separate the defense and open up passing lanes. It’s a smart, agile, and reactive playing style that keeps Savage diligent with the puck on his stick in the offensive-end. It would also lend itself very well to a cycle-based system, something the NTDP largely avoided this year.
Transition
But the most polarizing of Savage’s skills on offense is his ability in transition. Savage is a very positionally-intelligent player on the breakout. It’s not a particularly exciting-sounding talent but skill on the breakout is among the most coveted stats in such young players. And it’s something that provides Savage with plenty of time and space through the neutral zone.
He uses this space well and enters the offensive end cleanly. But his great awareness and reading of the play gives Savage a gameplan as soon as he enters the zone. He knows what lanes will likely be closed, helping him decide if he should shoot, pass, or carry the puck low into the zone.
But those three options clearly bore Savage. Luckily, he’s found plenty of ways to thwart backchecking forwards or defensemen blocking lanes. He has a keen ability to know how a convincing head fake or fake shot can open up lanes and times his moves perfectly to fully exploit biting defenseman. It’s perhaps the most fun-to-watch weapon in Savage’s arsenal.
On the surface, Savage is a two-way, always-involved centerman with a knack for defensive play. But plays like this show just how versatile his playing style can be. He can beat defenseman with good skating, good passing, or embarrass them with a cheeky head-fake. And if all else fails, well, Savage is still an NTDP player. So, of course, his hands can get him passed anyone.
Defensive Play
Savage’s defense is fairly textbook. He does everything he should do as a back-checking center and became one of the more effective among NTDP forwards because of it. Breaking down his defense is fairly easy because he doesn’t overcomplicate anything. He makes sure to always have a very active stick that he uses in a variety of different ways. If he’s set up in the defensive zone, Savage’s stick is always blocking a lane, a trait that’s easier said than done. If he’s attacking an opponent in transition, Savage does very well with using his stick to force them to the outside and close the gap. His “stick on puck” abilities are enough to bring a tear to the eye of ever U18 coach in the country. He closes gaps quickly and does a good job of taking the stick and separating puck from body. It leads to plenty of breakups along the boards, where Savage usually manages to gain possession himself quickly after, or at least kick the puck to an open area of the ice.
These few moves make up a large majority of Savage’s defensive play. He’s either blocking a lane or forcing opposition wide. And it’s because Savage is very, very rarely on the wrong side of the puck and forced to backcheck. He plays the red-line very well in the neutral zone, waiting to attack puck-carriers as they enter the neutral zone rather than pinching at the blue-line like many of his counterparts. It’s a style that’s more reminiscent of Europe’s infamous neutral-zone trap, rather than anything the NTDP — or really anywhere in North America — teaches. But Savage manages very well nonetheless and it keeps his defensive play incredibly reliable. He’s not a defensive wiz who shuts down everyone in his path. But he’s keen on what coaches want of him and smart about his positioning, making it near impossible for him to ever be a defensive liability.
When Savage is beat, he’s quick to get back. And, ever tenacious and gritty, he’s quick to pick up bodies in the slot or battle to win the puck back from the player who beat him. It’s the same grit he flaunts in front of the net in the offensive zone, using smart, physical play to win battles.
Penalty Kill
Active stick, physicality in the slot, lane awareness, tenacity… that is the perfect brew of a great penalty-killer. And it earned Savage the most penalty-killing time of any forward on the team. His penalty-killing didn’t add anything extra to his game. His stickwork and awareness kept him effective and he continued to do a great job of using his body to disposes opponents and break up plays. And in his 41 minutes of penalty-killing time on the season, Savage managed two shorthanded goals and one assist. While shorthanded goals aren’t uncommon for the NTDP, Savage’s hard work and ability to turn up ice and bury the puck add an extra layer to his penalty-killing.
Room to Improve
Savage’s defense is poised, calculated, and very by-the-books. But it’s not perfect. After breaking up plays and gaining possession, Savage very often rushed a decision too quickly, resulting in a quick turnover or a less-than-ideal play up the ice. This might be what turns many scouts off but it can be easily remedied. Savage has shown again-and-again that he has the ability to make quick-but-calculated plays and earns the ‘Playmaker’ badge as a result. But for some reason, he can struggle to make those same quick plays in the neutral zone.
It’s a very small downside to a skillset that’s very encompassing. Still, it’s worth noting, as it can be the barrier that separates young players from their professional counterpart. Becoming more poised after regaining possession will be important for Savage moving forward but a trait that should come with time, given his skillset already.
He can also overcommit at times, another area where his game could use some touchups. Savage is always great about getting back on defense but his overcommitting in the neutral zone can confuse play a bit. Still, his mindset overall keeps things from spiraling out of control, even when things don’t go his way.
What to Expect
Red Savage is a name that’s fallen all over the draft board. Some people have him well outside their Top 100 but it seems consensus keeps him between the Second and Third Rounds. I personally have him in my First Round, though.
And that’s because his game, while a bit naïve, shows tons of potential. Very, very few players are so perfectly textbook as Savage. He’s a coach’s dream, able to serve as a great net-front presence or a perimeter passer, who can also hold his own defensively and serve time on both special-teams units. What’s more, Savage is relentless and incredibly smart. While he might not be the strongest in the class, he has no fear in playing the body constantly, game-after-game. Any player he can’t overpower he can outthink, showing strong elusiveness, deceptiveness, and creativity that’s earned him plenty of goals.
Even in front of the net, where one would expect Savage to get easily overpowered, he showed a knack for cleaning up loose pucks and working around the slot; both incredibly projectable traits. He is a player who knows how to exploit any-and-all weaknesses in his opponent’s play and does so regularly.
What’s more, Savage’s style of play is perfect for the route he’s headed down. NCAA hockey prioritizes slow, gritty, defensive play and can sometimes eat up NTDP players who spent so much of their time focusing only on offense. But Savage has shown a great ability to turn defense into offense. His methodical style of play can start with the breakout and very quickly turn up ice and create scoring chances. It’s the style that college hockey was made for and one that should grow in leaps-and-bounds during his time at school.
Savage is following in his father’s footsteps with a commitment to Miami (Ohio) University. And there’s no doubting he’ll follow his father’s footsteps into the NHL as well. His tenacity and grit set a comfortable floor for Savage but his playmaking and mindset make his ceiling much higher. One way or another, Red Savage will undoubtedly play in the NHL.