Down the Frozen River

Tag: Jordan Leopold

  • Some Trade Deadline Analysis- Expert Analysis

    Colby Kephart takes a moment out of the week to give some analysis on how he thinks a few teams made out on their deadline deals.

    Trade Deadline Roundups

    By Colby Kephart

    Buffalo Sabres LogoBuffalo Sabres

    Cleaning house and praying for McDavid are all things the people in Buffalo are doing. Embrace the Tank, the competition to finish last place in the league might be given Buffalo now. Tim Murray said only a few people were off limits, and this was seen when veterans and small name players were traded.

    There were a few surprising moves, such as the trade with Montreal, which saw Buffalo giving up Brian Flynn and Torrey Mitchell for picks and prospect.

    Mitchell, when healthy, was having a good season and became a more consistent scorer than Matt Moulson or Brian Gionta.

    Flynn was a very small name at the start of season, but he was a hard worker for Buffalo and a very good penalty killer. Both of them are great role players and I could see one if not both players breaking into the Montreal roster.

    Buffalo fans saw yet another change in goal- ever since Ryan Miller left Buffalo, goaltending has been up for grabs. We saw both goalies leave, the first move sending Jhonas Enroth for Anders Lindback and a conditional 3rd round pick. This was brilliant move, for the operation tank, Lindback has struggled all year and will guarantee Buffalo a few more losses.

    The move I am happy with is sending Michal Neuvirth for Chad Johnson for conditional 3rd round pick. Chad Johnson signed a multiply year deal at the start of this season, meaning he will be back next season to be a backup to either a young goalie in our system or a free agent signing.

    The Sabres also saw a loss in experienced players with the moves of Chris Stewart, Drew Stafford, and Tyler Myers.B_HSHvkU0AM_N9V

    The first deal was the trade with Winnipeg before the deadline; I have mixed feeling about this move. Buffalo gave up a 1st round pick, Joel Armia, Brendan Lemieux, Drew Stafford, and Tyler Myers for Evander Kane and Zach Bogosian and Jason Kasdorf (prospect goalie). I love the addition of Bogosian, and Kane, but the Sabres gave up a lot for those players.

    Kane announced before the trade, he was done for the season due to an injury to his shoulder. That was the best part of the deal, Kane a highly skilled forward, won’t be adding wins the season due to his injury, pushing buffalo closer to McDavid.

    The second trade came late in the day of the deadline and sent Chris Stewart to Minnesota for a 2nd round pick. Everyone in Buffalo knew Chris Stewart was going to leave Buffalo, yet the only question was where and for what. I think Buffalo could’ve have gotten a little more from the deal, but it made sense to send another player to Minnesota or “little Buffalo” as I refer to it.

    (Tank Photo Credit: Kevin Gee @kgfrombeelo)

    Unknown-4Minnesota Wild

    Minnesota is trying to hold onto the 1st wildcard, so no surprise they added depth in both forwards and on the blue line. I am very impressed with the management in Minnesota; it was nice to see humility within the NHL. Minnesota is a special case; they have a strong mixture of youth players and have enough experience to keep winning into the playoffs.

    Minnesota made 3 deals on deadline day. The first deal was a great story; the deal brought Jordan Leopold home to his family in return for Justin Falk and 5th round pick. Jordan Leopold’s daughter, Jordyn, wrote a letter to Minnesota asking them to trade for the dad, who was in Columbus, but wasn’t playing much. Leopold was a top 6 defender in the past few years, but because of his age he had fallen out of the top 6, so the move to Minnesota could rebirth his career. Even if he becomes a depth defenseman at least he will be home with his kids.

    The next pick was the exchange in younger players the deal saw Zack Phillips to Boston for Jarred Knight. In this transaction, both team are hoping that relocation can spark these players and continue developing.

    The last deal saw the addition to the forwards with Chris Stewart coming over from Buffalo for a 2nd round pick. Chris Stewart can add a spark to Minnesota. We saw a lot of this in Buffalo, as he is not afraid to drop the gloves. Stewart can also add an explosion of offensive ability with fast skating and being strong with the puck. I think Minnesota will make the playoffs and give a top seed a run in the playoffs.

    UnknownNashville Predators

    Nashville was one of the biggest surprises of this season, sitting in first place in the whole league. They added James Neal and other pieces and experienced a huge step-up in younger players like Filip Forsberg. However could they have made a huge mistake by not adding at the deadline? Nashville made one trade before deadline day and the deal added depth both offensively and defensively.

    After Toronto Maple Leafs GM Dave Nonis determined no one was off limits and the big names must go, the deal saw Nashville send a 1st round pick, Olli Jokinen and Brendan Leipsic to Toronto for Cody Franson and Mike Santorelli. I love the addition of Cody Franson; he is only 27 years old and still has the ability to be a top 4 defender.

    Santorelli is a role player and can play his role well. He is a step up from Leipsic, but I think the Preds could’ve gotten more from the Maple Leafs. I understand giving up their 1st round pick assuming that they will have either the 29th or 30th overall pick in the draft.

    The issue Nashville has is a lack of playoff experience. If you look at teams who go far in the playoffs, they add big name players. The New York Rangers added Martin St. Louis and the Los Angeles Kings added Marian Gaborik last year, and even this year the Chicago Blackhawks added Antoine Vermette.

    No offense to Mike Santorelli, but he is not enough of an impact player to get 8-12 playoff goals or even getting to the double digits in points. I personally think Nashville will see an exit in either the 1st or the 2nd round because they didn’t add a big name.

    Unknown-3Toronto Maple Leafs

    Is the rebuild real in Toronto? I honestly don’t know any more after this deadline day. Toronto has struggled over the past few season to make the playoffs (or they see an early exit, like in 2013). That’s not the issue in my eyes.

    The issue to me is they never add players to change their current fate. So when GM Dave Nonis said they were going to clean house and trade big players like Phil Kessel and Dion Phaneuf, I saw change and big names on the move. Then they made four trades and only two on deadline day- I was shocked and saw same old Toronto missing a huge chance.

    The first deal was possibly the GM move of the year and saw David Clarkson go to Columbus for the injured Nathan Horton. Horton hasn’t played for months and Clarkson was a way overpaid forward, who wasn’t living up to his contract. So Horton gets put on the long term Injured reserve and his contract doesn’t completely count against the salary cap.

    The second deal before the deadline was with Nashville. This trade saw Toronto get a 1st round pick, Olli Jokinen, and Brendan Leipsic for Cody Franson and Mike Santorelli. This deal fit what Nonis had told the media and his team about cleaning out the roster and initiating the rebuild.

    This deal got them another 1st round pick and two players who will work hard. Jokinen then played a few games and was very unhappy with his new team. So the next deal still made sense to me at the deadline- Jokinen was traded to the Blues for Joakim Lindstrom and a conditional sixth round draft pick. This move was still smart, sending an unhappy veteran player for a young prospect and a pick.

    Now Detroit was very interested in Phaneuf and Toronto couldn’t make the deal happen. They were asking a lot for their captain, but in the long run wouldn’t let him go. This was confusing because in a rebuild you have to let some players go that you don’t want to, like what Buffalo did with Ryan Miller.

    The final deal made absolutely no sense to me at all. The deal was Korbinian Holzer to Anaheim for Eric Brewer and a 5th round pick. Toronto gave up a 27-year-old defenseman for a 35 year old man with a bigger contract. Holzer had less than 40 games played with this team, never really got a long run, and to just get rid of him is beyond me.

    The Maple Leafs essentially gave up a future kid that they could have developed (and used, badly). Toronto did not give up any big pieces like they said they would, they have the same base players and if changes aren’t made they will have the same disappointment at the end of each season.

  • 2015 NHL Trade Deadline Recap

    By: Nick Lanciani

    I finally got a chance to get around to recapping all of the trades made today at the deadline, so I present to you my hard work. This post will be updated throughout the day. What is known is shown.

    The Boston Bruins started the day off with the acquisition of F Brett Connolly (who is a pending restricted free agent) from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for a 2015 2nd round pick and a 2016 2nd round pick.

    The Tampa Bay Lightning then made a move to get D Braydon Coburn and sent D Radko Gudas, a 2015 1st round pick, and a 2015 3rd round pick to the Philadelphia Flyers.

    In the third move of the day, the Montreal Canadiens acquired D Jeff Petry from the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for a 2015 2nd round pick and a 2015 conditional 5th round pick. If Montreal wins in the first round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs, then the pick becomes a 4th round pick. If Montreal advances to the Eastern Conference Finals, then the pick becomes a 3rd round pick.

    Montreal then made their second move at the deadline, as the Canadiens sent a 2016 5th round pick to the Buffalo Sabres for F Brian Flynn.

    The St. Louis Blues acquired D Zbynek Michalek and a 2015 conditional 3rd round pick from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for Maxim Letunov.

    Chicago Blackhawks F Ben Smith was traded to the San Jose Sharks for F Andrew Desjardins. San Jose retained 50% of Desjardins’s salary on his current contract (he’s a pending unrestricted free agent).

    New Jersey Devils D Marek Zidlicky was sent to the Detroit Red Wings for a 3rd round draft pick. New Jersey retained $1 million of Zidlicky’s salary.

    The San Jose Sharks traded F Tyler Kennedy to the New York Islanders for a 2016 conditional 3rd round pick.

    San Jose sent F Freddie Hamilton to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for D Karl Stollery.

    The Pittsburgh Penguins traded D Robert Bortuzzo and a 2016 7th round pick to the St. Louis Blues for D Ian Cole.

    The New York Islanders sent backup goalie G Chad Johnson and a 2016 3rd round draft pick to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for G Michal Neuvirth.

    In their second move of the day, the New York Islanders sent F Cory Conacher to the Vancouver Canucks in a swap for F Dustin Jeffrey.

    The Columbus Blue Jackets traded D Jordan Leopold to the Minnesota Wild for D Justin Falk and a 5th round pick.

    Toronto Maple Leafs F Olli Jokinen was traded to the St. Louis Blues for F Joakim Lindstrom and a 2016 conditional 6th round pick. The draft pick can become a 4th round pick in 2015 if the Blues reach the Stanley Cup Finals and Jokinen plays a role in it.

    Buffalo Sabres F Torrey Mitchell was traded to the Montreal Canadiens for F Jack Nevins and a 2016 7th round pick. Buffalo retains 50% of Mitchell’s salary.

    D Ben Lovejoy returned to the Pittsburgh Penguins in a deal with the Anaheim Ducks that sent D Simon Despres to Anaheim.

    The Minnesota Wild kept their friendship going with the Sabres and acquired F Chris Stewart from Buffalo in exchange for a 2017 2nd round pick. The Sabres retained 50% of Stewart’s contract (so $2.1 million if you’re curious).

    F Sven Baertschi has been traded from the Calgary Flames to the Vancouver Canucks for a 2015 2nd round pick.

    The Columbus Blue Jackets traded D James Wisniewski and a 2015 3rd round pick (DET) to the Anaheim Ducks and got F William Karlsson, F Rene Bourque, and a 2015 2nd round pick in return.

    The Arizona Coyotes acquired G David Leggio from the New York Islanders in exchange for D Mark Louis.

    The Boston Bruins sent F Jordan Caron and a 2016 6th round pick to the Colorado Avalanche for F Max Talbot and F Paul Carey. The Avalanche will retain half of Talbot’s salary.

    Toronto Maple Leafs D Korbinian Holzer was traded to the Anaheim Ducks for D Eric Brewer and a 2016 5th round pick.

    Anaheim also acquired F Michael Sgarbossa from the Colorado Avalanche for D Mat Clark.

    F Jared Knight of the Boston Bruins was traded to the Minnesota Wild for F Zack Phillips.