Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Nick Leddy

St. Louis Blues To Acquire Nick Leddy

at CDT | by 11 Comments

The St. Louis Blues have made their defensive addition, acquiring Nick Leddy from the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for Oskar Sundqvist and Jake Walman and a second-round pick in 2023. The Blues will also receive Luke Witkowski in the deal, giving them some more depth (at multiple positions, even). Lou Korac of NHL.com reports that the Red Wings will be retaining 50 percent of Leddy’s remaining contract.

Leddy, who turned 31 yesterday, is still one of the strongest skating defensemen in the league and can fit into a Blues team that has their eyes set on another Stanley Cup. After a career spent entirely in Chicago and New York, Leddy came to Detroit in an offseason trade that cost just Richard Panik–a contract the team didn’t want anyway–and a second-round pick.

After a few months with the Red Wings, he’ll bring back even more than that, as both Sundqvist and Walman project as potential NHL options for Detroit. There’s even potential for him to return to them anyway as a free agent, as Leddy is currently scheduled to hit the open market this summer. Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic tweets that there have not yet been any extension discussions between the Blues and Leddy, meaning this could just be a pure rental for the last part of the season.

Getting back players that can contribute right away is key for a Red Wings team that hopes to contend for a playoff spot next season. In Sundqvist, they’re getting a 27-year-old forward that carries a cap hit of $2.75MM through the 2022-23 season. While he still hasn’t turned into much of an offensive player, the 6’3″ forward is a physical force that can fit into a few different spots in the bottom of the lineup. In Detroit, the team can perhaps even squeeze more offense out of him, as the Blues did when he scored 14 goals and 31 points in 2018-19.

Walman too could get a much bigger chance in Detroit, who have now moved out a pair of defensemen following Troy Stecher’s deal yesterday. The 26-year-old has played just 57 games in his NHL career to this point and will be a Group VI unrestricted free agent this summer if he fails to play in enough games down the stretch. He’ll likely enter the lineup on a regular basis to avoid that, at which point he’ll be an arbitration-eligible RFA in the offseason.

This has turned into a clear strategy for Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman, acquiring underutilized players for expiring assets. In fact, he might even end up flipping Sundqvist or Walman at some point as the team continues to build for the future.

But even though those players are tough to lose, the Blues are getting their big addition on defense ahead of a Stanley Cup push. Leddy can slot into the lineup and help take some of the pressure off of players like Marco Scandella who has struggled to maintain his previous level. The fact that he has over 120 games of playoff experience and won a Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2013 only adds to his appeal.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Detroit Red Wings Sit Nick Leddy For Asset Protection

at CDT | by 9 Comments

The Detroit Red Wings will scratch defenseman Nick Leddy for the purpose of asset and injury protection tonight in Vancouver and potentially again on Saturday in Seattle, per Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli. Leddy joins other defensemen like Ben Chiarot and Mark Giordano who have been scratched precautiously by their teams in anticipation of a trade prior to Monday’s trade deadline.

In Detroit this season, Leddy has been a valuable mentor to their duo of young right-shot defensemen on the rise in Moritz Seider and Filip Hronek. After general manager Steve Yzerman acquired him this offseason from the New York Islanders, he’s netted a goal and 15 assists for 16 points in 55 games, averaging 21:33 per game.

With that stat-line and the reputation that precedes him, Detroit should likely be able to at least recoup the second-round pick they gave up to acquire him, especially if they retain half of his $5.5MM cap hit. Still a skilled passer at this point in his career, he can be used more effectively in a sheltered, third-pairing role, potentially with limited power-play time as well. Leddy’s defensive metrics took a nosedive in Detroit this season, although that could very well just be a byproduct of the entire team’s struggles in that regard.

Recent waiver claim Olli Juolevi, now on his third NHL organization after the Vancouver Canucks drafted him fifth overall in 2016, will continue to get what could be his last real chance to impress in an NHL top-four setting in Detroit.

Injury Notes: Hamilton, Red Wings, Hayton

at CDT | by 2 Comments

New Jersey Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton isn’t returning to the ice for the team’s Super Bowl Sunday matchup against Pittsburgh, but Devils team reporter Amanda Stein says he’s getting closer to returning to the lineup from a jaw injury that’s kept him out of the lineup since the beginning of January. Hamilton has been practicing with the team but is still getting comfortable with the helmet protection required for him to safely play as his jaw continues to recover. New Jersey has won just four out of 15 games with Hamilton out of the lineup. They undoubtedly miss his production and play-driving ability from the back end.

Some more injury notes from around the NHL:

  • Detroit Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill says forward Vladislav Namestnikov is questionable for tomorrow’s game against the Minnesota Wild, meaning that brothers Givani Smith and Gemel Smith could both draw in and play their first game together in the NHL. Defenseman Nick Leddy is also probable to return after sitting out with an upper-body injury for the past two weeks. Namestnikov has provided good value this season on his $2MM cap hit, proving to be an important depth piece for Detroit with 13 goals, 10 assists, and 23 points in 49 games. Detroit has played Gemel Smith in just one game since claiming him off waivers from the Tampa Bay Lightning almost a month ago.
  • Per PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan, Arizona Coyotes general manager Bill Armstrong says that young center Barrett Hayton could return to the team’s lineup this coming week, potentially as soon as February 19th against the Los Angeles Kings. Hayton, selected fifth overall in 2018, had six points in 26 games this season prior to suffering a hand injury in early January. He’d been getting chances in a top-six role prior to the injury, something that’s likely to continue with his return.

Red Wings Add Two, Remove Two From COVID Protocol

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The Red Wings have lost a pair of players to COVID protocol but have also welcomed two back as the team announced (Twitter link) that winger Lucas Raymond and defenseman Nick Leddy have been placed into protocol while winger Robby Fabbri and center Michael Rasmussen have both been activated and placed on the active roster.

Raymond is off to a very impressive start to his rookie season and is an early contender for the Calder Trophy after recording 10 goals and 18 assists in 31 games placing him second in scoring on Detroit behind only Dylan Larkin.  As for Leddy, he has helped to stabilize their back end, logging nearly 22 minutes per game which places him third on the team in that category.

Fabbri returns after last suiting up on December 14th which also happened to be the day that he signed a new three-year extension.  He has 14 points in 29 games this season including eight goals which puts him in the top five in that category on the Red Wings.  Meanwhile, Rasmussen has held down a regular spot in Detroit’s lineup this season, picking up 10 points in 29 games while averaging 15:28 per game, the highest ATOI of his career.

The Red Wings are scheduled to return to game action on Wednesday against the Islanders with the standard caveat that the schedule is subject to change if further COVID-related postponements are deemed necessary.

New York Islanders Re-Sign Andy Greene

at CDT | by 5 Comments

The NHL’s pre-Expansion Draft roster freeze had ended and it appeared as if the New York Islanders had gotten themselves into quite the pickle. After trading Nick Leddy earlier this week, the Isles were left with just two defensemen who fit the exposure requirements for expansion – 27+ games played this year or 54+ games played over the past two years, plus term remaining on their current contract – and one of those two had to be exposed. However, those two defensemen were Ryan Pulock and Scott Mayfield, who alongside RFA Adam Pelech were expected to be protected from expansion. After all, that was the main catalyst of the Leddy trade.

Well, long after the deadline had passed it has now been confirmed that the Islanders did find a solution to their problem, with the timing suggesting this was perhaps a fallback plan in the event they could not add an exposure-eligible defenseman. The Athletic’s Arthur Staple was the first to report that New York has extended veteran defenseman Andy Greene with a one-year, $1MM contract. The deal carries a minimum $750K salary and a $250K signing bonus. Most importantly, Greene is now under contract and has more than enough games to his credit this past season to serve as the Islanders’ expansion exposure prop.

Greene, who will turn 39 early this season, is still a good player and a great locker room presence. However, re-signing the veteran may not have been GM Lou Lamoriello’s plan, even with a relatively inexpensive deal. Greene saw a 12-year low in ice time last season as his offense dried up, his puck movement suffered, and he was less disruptive on defense. Greene is still a smart, capable defenseman, especially in a third pair role, but at his age and ability his ceiling is low. Meanwhile, the Islanders have young defensemen like Noah Dobson, Sebastian Aho, Bode Wilde, Grant Hutton, Samuel Bolduc, Robin Salo, and more who are pushing for NHL opportunity and ice time. The Isles will have to toe the line between not blocking those young players and not upsetting the locker room by benching or demoting Greene, a veteran leader.

Red Wings Acquire Nick Leddy

at CDT | by 30 Comments

The Red Wings have added to their back end in advance of tomorrow’s transactions freeze, acquiring defenseman Nick Leddy from the Islanders in exchange for winger Richard Panik and the 52nd overall pick in this month’s draft.  Detroit is also retaining 50% of Panik’s contract, using their first of three salary retention slots in the process.  Both teams have announced the trade.

Earlier this week, it was reported that Leddy was being shopped to avoid the potential of losing him to Seattle in the upcoming expansion draft.  The 30-year-old had logged steady minutes over his seven years with the Islanders, averaging more than 21 minutes per game for each of the last six seasons.  Leddy even had a bounce-back year offensively this past season, tallying 31 points in 56 games.  However, with the Islanders having over $77MM in commitments for next season with several key players in need of new contracts, some money needed to be moved and Leddy’s $5.5MM price tag became the casualty.

Panik was acquired as salary ballast from Washington back at the trade deadline as part of the Anthony Mantha deal and is on the move again as salary ballast in this trade.  He has two years left on his deal with a $2.75MM AAV so with Detroit retaining half of that price tag, New York frees up $4.125MM in cap room with the move.  They also get a fairly high draft pick and Panik at a $1.375MM cost is serviceable for someone who is best served as a role player at this stage of his career after seeing his offensive numbers drop for four straight seasons to just 13 in 48 games in 2020-21.

Meanwhile, Leddy immediately becomes one of Detroit’s top defensemen but with his age and contract which expires next summer, it certainly doesn’t feel as if he’ll be a long-term fixture on their back end, especially since they’re still in rebuilding mode.  Instead, he’s someone that appears to be a strong candidate to be flipped closer to the trade deadline, perhaps with some salary retention as well to make it easier for a contender to add him later in the season where they may be able to recoup the second-rounder they’ve given up here.

As for New York’s expansion situation, this ensures they won’t lose Leddy for free but still poses some questions.  Each team must leave at least one signed defenseman unprotected that has played in at least 54 games over the past two years (or played in 27 games this season).  The Islanders only have three of those in Ryan Pulock, Adam Pelech, and Scott Mayfield.  Presumably, those are the three they want to keep so they will now need to acquire or sign a defenseman to serve as the mandatory unprotected player before the lists are submitted on Saturday.  Veterans Braydon Coburn and Andy Greene meet the games played requirement so a one-year contract for them would satisfy the requirement.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.  Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.

Islanders Shopping Nick Leddy

at CDT | by 8 Comments

With the expansion draft fast approaching, some teams are trying to find trade takers for some veteran players over running the risk of losing them for nothing to the Kraken.  One of those teams appears to be the Islanders as Arthur Staple of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that they are shopping blueliner Nick Leddy for that very purpose; as things stand, it’s unlikely he’ll be protected when the lists are submitted on Saturday.

The 30-year-old isn’t the top pairing player he was when he first came to New York but he has logged steady minutes, averaging more than 21 minutes per game for each of the last six seasons.  He even had a bounce-back year offensively in 2020-21, notching 31 points in 56 games, his highest point per game average since 2016-17.  Of course, his play in his own end hasn’t always been the strongest but as a strong puck-mover, it would seem as if there should be some interest in him.

However, his contract could create some challenges.  Leddy, the highest-paid healthy blueliner on the Isles, is entering the final year of his deal but carries a $5.5MM AAV and a $7MM salary for next season.  That’s a high price tag to absorb in an offseason when many teams are looking to shed contracts even though the defense market in unrestricted free agency isn’t the strongest.  Accordingly, knowing there’s a firm deadline just three days away and a high price tag, New York may not be able to command much of a return.

However, any sort of return that doesn’t have a sizable contract attached to it would still be helpful for the Islanders.  They have over $77MM in cap commitments for next season (which does include LTIR-bound Johnny Boychuk and his $6MM deal) with defender Adam Pelech and winger Anthony Beauvillier as notable restricted free agents with winger Kyle Palmieri and Casey Cizikas as notable pending unrestricted free agents.  As things stand, they can’t afford them all.

That wouldn’t change with Leddy off the books but it would sure give GM Lou Lamoriello some extra flexibility at his disposal even if it means an extra spot to be filled on the back end.  Depending on who they’d then lose to Seattle, the Islanders might be able to keep more of those free agents around.  That process appears to involve Leddy’s contract being moved and if they want to have a shot at getting something for him, they have less than 72 hours to do so before the trade freeze kicks in.

Expansion Primer: New York Islanders

at CDT | by 12 Comments

Over the next few weeks, we will be breaking down each team’s situation as it pertains to the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft. Which players are eligible, who will likely warrant protection, and which ones may be on the block to avoid the risk of losing them for nothing? Each team is required to submit their protection lists by 4:00 PM CDT on July 17th. The full eligibility rules can be found here, while CapFriendly has an expansion tool to make your own lists.

In 2017, the New York Islanders were one of the few lucky teams not to lose a player in the Expansion Draft, as the Vegas Golden Knights selected free agent goaltender Jean-Francois Berube. They paid dearly for that privilege though, trading a first-round pick, second-round pick, and defenseman Jake Bischoff (as well as the contract of Mikhail Grabovski) in order for Vegas to take Berube. The team was also the only one to protect three forwards and five defensemen.

This time around, the Islanders are unlikely to pay a heavy price to keep their unprotected players from being selected in the NHL Expansion Draft and they are also expected to go with a more orthodox protection scheme. Will they lose a good player? Sure. However, two-time reigning GM of the Year winner Lou Lamoriello has left his team in decent shape as expansion approaches.

Eligible Players (Non-UFA)

Forwards:
Josh Bailey, Mathew Barzal, Anthony Beauvillier, Kieffer Bellows, Cal Clutterbuck, Austin Czarnik, Michael Dal Colle, Jordan Eberle, Ross Johnston, Otto Koivula, Leo Komarov, Andrew Ladd, Anders Lee, Matt Martin, Brock Nelson, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Dmytro Timashov

Defense:
Sebastian Aho, Thomas Hickey, Nick Leddy, Scott Mayfield, Adam Pelech, Ryan Pulock, Parker Wotherspoon

Goalies:
Ken Appleby, Semyon Varlamov

Notable Unrestricted Free Agents

F Casey Cizikas, D Braydon Coburn, D Andy Greene, F Kyle Palmieri, F Travis Zajac

Notable Exemptions

D Johnny Boychuk (Inj.), D Samuel Bolduc, D Noah Dobson, D Robin Salo, G Jakub Skarek, G Ilya Sorokin, F Oliver Wahlstrom

Key Decisions

When you miss the playoffs or even exit early, it is easier to look toward the future when it comes to making difficult decisions in regards to the Expansion Draft (see: Philadelphia Flyers). However, when it comes to the Islanders, their current deep playoff run could make that difficult. The team faces several decisions in which they must choose between a top veteran or a younger future piece and must sort that out.

However, there are some no-brainers to start. In goal, the team specifically signed Appleby only to expose him, allowing them to protect starter Varlamov. On defense, the tongue-twisting top pair of Pelech and Pulock are locked in for protection. At forward, young core pieces Barzal and Beauvillier and captain Lee are also guarantees.

After that, things get difficult. The seemingly easy call is to protect their other top-scoring veteran forwards. Bailey, Nelson, Eberle, and Pageau are all key pieces to this season and playoff run and are all signed long-term. However, Bailey and Eberle will both turn 32 next season and carry expensive contracts for several more years, but have shown signs of decline in recent seasons. They will both certainly be contributors for another year or possibly longer, but are they worth losing another forward and missing out on using the cap space elsewhere?

If any of that core group of top-nine forwards is not protected, other candidates include reliable fourth liners Clutterbuck and Martin. However, the player who deserves the most consideration is young Bellows. The 23-year-old forward is a 2016 first-round pick who produced with the USNTDP, in the NCAA, the WHL, and most recently the AHL. His scoring has yet to translate to the NHL, but it seems like a safe bet. With more time and opportunity, Bellows could easily be a top goal-scorer for an NHL team. Do the Islanders risk that team being the Seattle Kraken?

One thing that is certain is that the depth up front will ensure the Islanders use the 7-3 protetion scheme. On defense, behind Pelech and Pulock, it may seem like top-scoring defenseman Leddy should be the final pick and he very well may be. After some down years, Leddy impressed this season and was invaluable to the Islanders’ success. He also plays a key leadership role as an experienced, long-time member of the team.

However, Leddy’s age and his expiring contract could make him a diminishing asset for the team. In his place, they could keep the younger, more affordable, and arguably equally valuable Mayfield. Initially more of a stay-at-home defenseman, Mayfield has rounded out his game in recent years and with that his role has increased. At $1.45MM for two more years, Mayfield is a bargain and would have a greater total impact on the team if Leddy leaves after next season, even if Leddy is the superior performer next season alone. Is that enough to make him the selection? Another outside-the-box candidate would be 22-year-old Aho, who showed potential last season but took a step back this year.

Projected Protection List

F Josh Bailey
F Mathew Barzal
F Anthony Beauvillier
F Jordan Eberle
F Anders Lee
F Brock Nelson
F Jean-Gabriel Pageau

D Nick Leddy
D Adam Pelech
D Ryan Pulock

G Semyon Varlamov

Skater Exposure Requirement Checklist

When Vegas had their expansion draft, a minimum of two forwards and one defenseman had to be exposed that were under contract and played either 40 games in the most recent season or 70 over the past two combined.  Due to the pandemic, those thresholds have been changed to 27 games played in 2020-21 or 54 in 2019/20 and 2020-21 combined.  In creating our expansion list for each team in this series, we will ensure that these criteria are met.

Forwards (3): Cal Clutterbuck, Leo Komarov, Matt Martin

Defensemen (1): Scott Mayfield

The Islanders’ current playoff run could very likely determine their approach to the Expansion Draft. If they feel strongly about their success in winning the East Division or if they are able to advance to the next round, they may feel that they are close enough to winning a Stanley Cup that they keep all of their top-performing veterans. Yet, if they win the Cup, perhaps that focus shifts back to the future and the emphasis becomes long-term assets. Either way, the Islanders will have to expose good players and after giving up a king’s ransom to Vegas in the last round of Expansion and already with a relatively shallow prospect pipeline and missing several draft picks, they are unlikely to make any side deals.

If available, a top veteran like Leddy, Bailey, or Eberle would be an easy pick for Seattle. However, assuming they are protected, Mayfield does stick out as the top option. The only issue there could be that there will be many teams who expose solid defensemen and don’t have any quality forwards available. A young, high-upside forward like Bellows may be hard to pass up. The Kraken will have plenty of options and the Islanders will lose a good player – likely their No. 4 defenseman or top forward prospect – but they will survive.

Islanders Notes: Salary Cap, Free Agents, Ilya Sorokin

at CDT | by 1 Comment

Many teams are facing troubling cap situations over the next two seasons (assuming the CBA passes and the cap freezes at $81.5MM). Count the New York Islanders among the troubled.

Though they don’t have any exorbitant deals, the Islanders have a whole host of contracts in the $3-6MM range. With $71.38MM already committed to their roster for next season, there’s a decent likelihood that GM Lou Lamoriello will have to let all their pending unrestricted free agents walk, per The Athletic’s Arthur Staple. That would mean Matt Martin, Derick Brassard, Tom Kuhnhackl, Andy Greene, and Thomas Greiss all hitting the open market. Then again, with many teams facing this crunch, free agents may face a depressed market, potentially allowing teams to grab some bargain short-term deals.

  • Greiss is probably the biggest on-ice contributor from that group, though if all goes well, Ilya Sorokin could join the club and take on that role. Martin might be the bigger loss in a spiritual sense. Despite a two-year hiatus in Toronto, Martin has spent nine years in New York, and his grinding style of play has made him popular among the locals. He’s also the most likely to return, as the fourth-liner may not command a whole lot in free agency after marking 0.4 point shares this season.
  • The bigger issue, Staples writes, is with the Islanders restricted free agents: namely, Mathew Barzal. Just two years removed from winning the Calder Trophy, Barzal is in line for a hefty raise, even if he settles for a bridge contract. With Ryan Pulock, Devon Toews, and potentially Sorokin (more on this later) also restricted free agents, the Islanders will look to shed a contract or two to free up enough money to keep these central young players in the fold. The team has been resistant to trading Nick Leddy, but his $5.5MM could be rerouted to players more likely to play key roles moving forward. Leddy remains a viable blueliner, and though they’re not likely to return a significant asset for him, New York can get out from under his contract if they need the money. Another former Blackhawk, Andrew Ladd, would be another trade piece, but at 35-years-old and with only 30 games played over the last two seasons, they’re not likely to find a taker for the veteran forward – nor can they get any savings from buying him out. More likely for Ladd, Staples notes, is landing on the long-term injured reserve, which would allow the Islanders to go over the cap by $5.5MM.
  • Even though signing Sorokin now will burn his one year ELC, the Islanders are probably going to do so anyway to get him in the fold, writes Staple in another piece. It will make him a restricted free agent for next season, but the Islanders appear ready to bring him in to start working with their coaches. Since the KHL doesn’t typically allow opt-outs, New York would rather bring him in and have him ready for next season rather than lose him to the KHL for another season.

One Trade The Blackhawks Would Like To Have Back

at CDT | by 4 Comments

After decades of fostering a reputation as one of the NHL’s premiere tortured franchises, the Chicago Blackhawks recast their reputation when Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, and company won the Stanley Cup in 2010. In the decade since, there have been two faces to the Chicago franchise: cup contention on the one hand, and salary cap concessions on the other. 

Stanley Cup Championships in 2010, 2013, and 2015 put Captain Serious and the Blackhawks in contention for the franchise of the decade. But the core that helped the Hawks to nine consecutive playoff appearances was costly to keep together. The resultant sell-off of quality players became the other trademark of the 2010s-era Blackhawks. Quality rotations players were sent packing in an effort to manage the salary cap: Dustin Byfuglien, Brandon Saad, Andrew Ladd, Brent Sopel, Nick Leddy, Antti Raanta, Robin Lehner, Andrew Shaw, Artem Anisimov, Artemi Panarin, Kris Versteeg, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Patrick Sharp, Teuvo Teravainen, Bryan Bickell, Troy Brouwer, and the beat goes on. Basically, when all these guys get together at the annual meetup for players traded away from the Blackhawks, they require a larger space than the visiting locker room.

Of course, as a group, they’re still pretty well connected in Chicago. A surprising number of the players GM Stan Bowman has traded away have at some point found their way back to Chicago (Saad, Ladd, Versteeg, Shaw, Oduya, etc.). So before Bowman trades for Nick Leddy again, let’s take a look at the deal that sent the defenseman packing. 

The deal – reported here by Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune – sent blueliner Nick Leddy (and minor league goalie Kent Simpson) to the New York Islanders after the 2013-2014 season for T.J. Brennan, Ville Pokka, and goaltender Anders Nilsson. Like many of Bowman’s trades post-2010, this one was necessitated by a contract sheet bursting at the seams. Three months prior, Bowman locked Toews and Kane into dueling 10-year deals, and two days after that, the salary cap figure came in from the league for the 2014-2015 season at about $2MM less than expected. 

Leddy carried a $2.7MM cap hit at the time with one season before restricted free agency. He would become the first – if much-anticipated – collateral damage of locking their two superstars into long-term deals. He was, by then, a fixture in Chicago, having won the cup in 2013 while serving on the third line of defenders and on the power play for the Hawks. They had to make a move to get under the cap, and with Leddy’s impending restricted free agency, it made a certain amount of sense that he’d be the fall guy.

Assume Bowman figured to move a defender. They could have broken up their second defensive pairing, as both Hjalmarsson and Oduya carried larger cap hits ($4.1MM and $3.375MM, respectively). Both were older than Leddy, considerably so for Oduya (entering his age-32 season). That might have played into Bowman’s thinking, as Oduya wasn’t likely to command as much future salary as Leddy. Hjalmarsson had signed a five-year extension the summer prior, and he routinely put his body on the line to defend the net. He was, if not inner circle in Chicago, then the first guy knocking on the door. 

By moving Leddy, Chicago kept their top-two blueline pairings intact. Given Leddy’s youth, there’s an argument to be made that he was the right piece to move because of the value he could return. 

That’s where this particular trade falls apart. Goaltender Anders Nilsson signed with Kazan of the KHL the following May, never to play for the Blackhawks. Defender T.J. Brennan barely spent the night in-pocket: Bowman traded him to Toronto a couple of months later for Spencer Abbott. Brennan didn’t accomplish a ton in the league, but he lasted longer than Abbott, who appeared in exactly one game for the Blackhawks. Pokka was the other defender in the deal, and at 26-years-old, he has yet to make an appearance for Chicago, spending the last two seasons in the KHL. Abbott’s 8 minutes and 34 seconds of ice time from January of 2017 – his one shot on goal – make up the entirety of the production received from the Leddy trade. 

Granted, Leddy isn’t an all-world defender, but he became a top-pair defender in New York. He can hit the back of the net and bring some punch to the backline, even if his plus/minus scores leave something to be desired. He signed a 7-year, $38.5MM deal that the Blackhawks weren’t likely able to afford – which really puts him on par financially with, say, Brent Seabrook. If keeping Leddy meant trading Seabrook, well, maybe this deal was bound to happen. But again, the real issue with this deal isn’t losing Leddy. It’s that despite the volume return, those pieces added essentially zero long-or-short-term value to the Blackhawks’ roster. 

Maybe the deal had to happen to duck the salary cap, and maybe given another chance, Bowman would make the decision to move Leddy again, but one thing is for certain, the Blackhawks would like to have this trade back – even just to try their hand at trading him again. He wouldn’t be the first guy to get traded away from Chicago more than once. 

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

scroll to top