Evaluating Chicago Blackhawks’ Trade of Nick Leddy
By Sean Sarcu
@seansarcu
Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
The Chicago Blackhawks‘ long-awaited offseason trade for the purpose of salary-cap compliance finally went down on Saturday, with Nick Leddy and Kent Simpson shipped off to the New York Islanders in exchange for Ville Pokka, T.J. Brennan and Anders Nilsson.
In light of the fact that the entire league knew Chicago had to free up cap space before Tuesday and thus had minimal leverage, this isn’t a bad return for Leddy. Pokka is a real prize; he has immediately become the Blackhawks’ second-best prospect behind fellow Finn Teuvo Teravainen. The 20-year-old projects as a quality top-4 NHL defenseman and is coming off an impressive season in Finland’s SM-liiga. Brennan and Nilsson, meanwhile, are middling prospects and are unlikely to crack Chicago’s roster in the future.
Pokka holds the value of a mid first-round pick, and that is essentially what this trade boils down to. Still, it hurts to lose Leddy heading into what is plainly a “go for it” season for the Blackhawks; his speed and puck skills were very valuable traits to have on the third pairing, particularly next to the immobile Michal Rozsival.
David Rundblad, Trevor van Riemsdyk and Kyle Cumiskey are each vying for the roster spot that Leddy’s departure has opened up. The third pairing is now a legitimate concern; Rozsival’s days as a positive contributor are long over, Rundblad still hasn’t found his own zone, van Riemsdyk is an unpolished and untested rookie and Cumiskey hasn’t been an NHL regular since 2009-10.
There’s no denying that Chicago made out well enough in the Leddy trade, acquiring a legitimate long-term replacement for Johnny Oduya and only having to trade one player to do it. Nevertheless, there’s an air of concern in the Windy City that wasn’t around a week ago.
A team that previously had no discernible weakness now has a glaring one, and a mishmash of rookies and disappointing veterans are all the Blackhawks have to throw at it.
Sean Sarcu is a Chicago Blackhawks writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter or add him to your network on Google.
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