There was the story that said one of those teams was the Montreal Canadiens — a development later reported to be nothing more than fiction.
Then there was the idea that Cam Neely, who took over as team president on June 16, was cleaning house, getting rid of guys that didn't play his style of hockey. That mission, the rumors said, would begin in earnest by moving Savard to another team.
On Tuesday, Neely dismissed the rumors.
"When you see and read all that stuff, it's certainly speculation. I haven't said anything of the sort," Neely told CSNNE's Joe Haggerty following the team's introductory news conference for Tyler Seguin and Nathan Horton.
"I don't really want to comment on individual players with that type of dialogue," Neely added. "Marc Savard has come in here, and the three years that he's been here, our franchise has gotten better. He's got that skill set that not many players have.
"I understand that that's the business of the media," Neely said, "but I really don't want to add anything to fuel any fires."
Haggerty also asked if the team was looking to trade Savard because of the way the center handled the aftermath of the too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty in Game 7 againsst Philadelphia.
"That's not why you trade players, I don't think," Neely said.
Though he did downplay any issues with Savard, Neely did tell Haggerty that the team is not necessarily done working for the summer.
"As it stands today, we're very happy with our lineup," he said. "When you don't win the last game of the season, I think every team looks to improve their club. And we're no different."
