As anticipated, the Detroit Red Wings traded defenseman Nick Leddy ahead of Monday afternoon’s NHL trade deadline.
Leddy goes to the St. Louis Blues for a 2023 second-round pick, forward Oskar Sundqvist and Jake Walman, the Wings announced an hour before the deadline. Leddy, 31, was scratched the past two Wings games as protection against injury, signaling general manager Steve Yzerman was going to trade the pending unrestricted free agent.
The second-round pick is the key asset, as it will help the rebuild. It also returns the investment made on Leddy, who was acquired from the New York Islanders for a second-round pick in 2021.
But Sundqvist could be a factor in the present.
Sundqvist, who turns 28 on Wednesday, is a 6-foot-3 center who began his NHL career with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He has four goals and 11 assists in 41 games this season, and 87 points in 270 career games. He is signed through 2022-23 with a $2.75 million salary cap hit.
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Walman, 26, is a 6-foot-2, 215-pound defenseman who has six points in 32 games this season, and eight points in 57 games. He’s on an expiring contract with a $725,000 salary cap hit.
Minor-leaguer Luke Witkowski also went to the Blues in the deal. The Leddy trade comes a day after Yzerman dealt Troy Stecher to the Los Angeles Kings for a seventh-round pick. Leddy is a good skater and passer, but he struggled to make the Wings better, recording 16 points and a minus-33 rating in 55 games. The Wings retained 50% of Leddy’s $5.5 million salary cap hit in the deal.
The Wings, an hour after moving Leddy, traded Vladislav Namestnikov to the Dallas Stars for a future fourth-round pick.
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Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her book, The Big 50: The Detroit Red Wings is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.