Per TSN, the most logical trade bait for the Avalanche, Jordan Leopold, has been sent back to the team from whence he came.
This morning the Avalanche sent Leopold to the Flames and got back two defencemen - Lawrence Nycholat and Ryan Wilson - along with a 2nd round pick.
I recognize Nycholat's name but only because he played for the Swift Current Broncos in his junior career. He has bounced around a few teams including the Senators, Canucks and Flames but has spent most of the last decade in the AHL. In other words, sounds like a bust.
Ryan Wilson is a young, offensive defenseman who has spent this season with the Quad City Flames, putting up four goals and 16 assists over 60 games.
Hockeys Future has an assessment of Wilson and makes note that while he puts up good numbers for a player of his size, his defensive abilities are currently lacking.
So another undersized offensive defenseman has been added to the cubbard. Because you can never have too many of those.
The 2nd-round pick is presumably for this year's draft though TSN didn't indicate as such. UPDATE: TSN now indicates it is a 2009 2nd-round pick.
They did however, use the best photo of Leopold in existence to go along with their story.
The deal gets my stamp of approval if only because it means the Avalanche have another draft pick and that Kyle Cumiskey may finally get his chance to play full time next season.
UPDATE
Some commenters on Dater's blog are blasting FG for this move, claiming Nycholat as worthless and Wilson as a bust based on what they read online. Apparently the 2nd-round pick means nothing to them. It means the world to me.
The Avalanche likely picked up Nycholat knowing he'd play in Lake Erie full time. Don't forget that the Avalanche have an AHL roster to fill out. As for Wilson, though preliminary reports aren't great and I'm reluctant to cheer another undersized defenseman, what FG has done is what people have asked. Get some picks and prospects and start a minor rebuild.
Related Links
Leopold to Flames
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Jordan Leopold Traded Back to the Flames
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3 Comments:
Since when is 6'1" and 207 lbs. considered "undersized?" He may not be huge but that's not exactly smurfish, even in the NHL. Wilson's only 21 too and will likely still fill out a little. Let's see what we have before we chalk him up as a bust.
fair enough, anon. I just read "undersized" as part of his profile and didn't bother to confirm.
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