NHL Trade Winds Blowing: Blues Acquire Jordan Leopold
On Saturday, the St. Louis Blues made a move to bolster their blue line.
St. Louis traded a second round pick and a conditional fifth round pick in the 2013 Draft to the Buffalo Sabres for defenseman Jordan Leopold. The fifth round pick would become a fourth if the Blues win a playoff series.
Leopold has two goals and six assists in 24 games with the Sabres this year, and is expected to move into the Blues’ top four and impact their powerplay.
The Blackhawks were also linked to a couple players in rumors on Saturday.
Mark Lazerus of the Sun-Times reported on Saturday that the Blackhawks were “deep into discussions” with New York Islanders about a trade involving veteran defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky; Visnovsky signed a two-year, $9.5M extension with the Isles on Friday.
Lazerus also reported the Hawks have interest in San Jose forward Ryan Clowe.
Streit & Nielson
replace
Oduya, Olsen, Morin & pick
Couldn’t the Islanders still trade Visnovsky? Sign and trade used to be quite common. Striet and Nielson would be welcome additions.
Ugh. Please let the Visnovsky rumor be false. Is he better than Oduya? Maybe, but he’s now signed for 2 more years at $4.75 per and will have a No Move clause so not only could he not be traded without his consent, he couldn’t be waived or sent down to the AHL without his consent either.
I haven’t really heard his name, but do you think the Blackhawks could pry Letestu from Columbus? I know they’re ‘in the playoff hunt’ but realistically they are rebuilding, Letestu is in the last year of his contract, and they will no longer be in the ‘hawks conference after this season. Letestu isn’t a world-beater, but he’s a slightly bigger version of Kruger who has been a +50% faceoff man each of the past 3 years. Just think that one small move could make a world of difference:
Saad/Toews/Hossa
Sharp/Letestu/Kane
Bickell/Bolland/Stalberg-Frolik
Shaw/Kruger/Frolik-Stalberg
Mayers-Carcillo-Hayes-Morin-Smith-Bolig as the healthy scratches come playoff time
Tab: I’m interested in hearing your opinion of Stan Bowman, psychologically, in regard to trade deadline trades. He seems quite gun-shy, like he cant move himself to pull the trigger. Last year he traded for worthless/can’t skate/bad knees Brendan Morrison, who gave us nothing. Now, we’re in the same waiting pattern, hoping he has the stones to pull off a trade and improve the team like other competitors seem to be doing. But nothing.
So what gives? Is he so enamored with his draft picks that he can’t deal them? And if he’s so confident in their future-greatness that he can’t trade them, then why won’t he bring them up? For example, why not dump Carcillo and bring up Pirri? I don’t understand.
Maybe he thinks our Stanley Cup window is open indefinitely since the core is young. But things can change quickly. He’s a fool to think otherwise. We need to strike while we can–while we have a core of talented guys on the cusp of a Cup again. Before the salary cap forces us to gut the team and endure another stretch of mediocrity.
WHY WON’T HE ACT?
John: it takes two GMs to make a trade happen, and Bowman hasn’t been one to overspend. Last year Bowman added Morrison, but he also acquired Oduya who, for the most part, has been a solid addition to the team. Funny how the good move doesn’t get a mention, but the worthless one does….
Before the Blues moved a couple picks for Jordan Leopold, the only team pulling the trigger on anything was Pittsburgh. “Other competitors” in the Western Conference haven’t done much of anything yet, so asking if Bowman’s trigger shy and assuming there’s something psychologically wrong must mean the General Managers in every other Western Confernce city have issues as well.
Finally, your comment about the cap forcing the Hawks to gut the team in the next couple years actually supports Bowman’s inactivity. The Hawks’ front office has put together a pretty good group of prospects that, because the cap will impact how teams do business in the future, will play a major role in the the Hawks’ Cup window staying open. Sacrificing some of the top kids in the system for a rental could be counter-productive long-term.
As I have said the week before the deadline for the last couple years, I will wait to judge Bowman’s activity (or inactivity) until the deadline has passed. Until then, Bowman hasn’t “missed out” on anything imo
@ Sr. Brad – Visnovsky reportedly received a no move clause, so it’s doubtful this would be a sign-and-trade scenario.