The St. Louis Blues have acquired defensemen Nick Leddy and Luke Witkowski from the Red Wings, the teams announced. Detroit received a 2023 second-round pick, forward Oskar Sundqvist and defenseman Jake Walman.
The 31-year-old Leddy has played 831 games in his NHL career and 121 playoff games. In 2013 he won a Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks.
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This season, his first in Detroit, he has 16 points in 55 games and is a minus-33, while averaging 21:33 of ice time per contest. Leddy is in the final season of a seven-year, $38.5 million contract. Witkowski has played one game in 2021-22.
The 27-year-old Sundqvist has played 41 games this season and notched 15 points. He had his best season in 2018-19 with 14 goals in 74 games as St. Louis won the Stanley Cup. Sundqvist has a year left on a deal that pays him $2.75 million annually. The 26-year-old Walman has six points in 32 games while averaging 11:59 per contest.
In other free agency news, Tyler Bertuzzi remained in Detroit despite trade rumors surrounding the forward, The Athletic's Max Bultman reports. Bertuzzi had made it clear in a press conference over the weekend that his preference was to stay with the Red Wings.
The Red Wings also traded Vladislav Namestnikov to the Dallas Stars for a 2024 fourth-round pick.
The Blues (34-18-9) are in second place in the Central Division while the Red Wings are 25-30-7 and rank 24th in the league standings.
For more updates, follow The Athletic's trade deadline live blog.
(Photo: Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)
Why did the Blues pay so much for Leddy?
Jeremy Rutherford, Blues senior writer: The Blues had to do something and the cost for one of the top-available defensemen was too much for them to stomach. Leddy may not have been the most attractive option, but he can help, and meanwhile, the Blues have moved the final year of Oskar Sundqvist's $2.75 million salary off the book.
Sundqvist was coming back from double-hip and knee surgery, wasn't 100 percent this season, and perhaps there's thought within the organization of whether he'd ever get back to being the same player again. That will give them some salary-cap flexibility this summer in case GM Doug Armstrong has some leads on how he can upgrade the roster at that point.
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In essence, they're giving up a second-round pick in 2023 for a defenseman, which was always their preference over surrendering a first-rounder.
Where does Leddy fit on their blue line?
Rutherford: Can Leddy be what the Blues need on defense? There are many doubters that the 31-year-old can be the player he was a few years ago. That said, he still skates well and can transition the puck as well as a lot of defensemen in the league. But the Blues have a hole in their top pair alongside Colton Parayko on the left side. They've been patching it up with Marco Scandella and Niko Mikkola, and it has not been effective.
It remains to be seen, but perhaps they can let Leddy step in and do his thing while having Parayko play more of a defensive role? That's a lot to hope for with a defenseman who has struggled defensively in Detroit. But at the very least, Leddy can give the Blues some depth, and if somehow he ends up in the third pairing with Robert Bortuzzo, the Blues have still improved their group overall.
How can this deal help Detroit's rebuild?
Max Bultman, Red Wings beat writer: Most obviously, the Red Wings add another moderately high draft pick in the 2023 second-rounder. It's the first additional pick the Red Wings have acquired for the 2023 draft, which is meaningful — Detroit's on a long-run now of having multiple early picks, and this keeps that going.
Also interesting, though, will be Sundqvist and Walman — a pair of third-rounders who aren't young, but aren't old either. Walman just turned 26 and Sundqvist, who has another year on his contract, turns 28 this week.
How do Sundqvist and Walman fit with the Wings?
Bultman: Sundqvist should slot into Detroit's bottom-six as a big body with some goal-scoring track record. The Red Wings have needed more size this season, which has been exposed against heavy teams such as Calgary, Nashville and Los Angeles. At 6-foot-3, Sundqvist won't be easy to push around.
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Walman, meanwhile, has a short NHL track record with just 57 games played (in a third-pair role) but does have strong underlying numbers this season in those limited minutes. In Detroit, he should get some opportunity on the left side the rest of this season, mixing in with Jordan Oesterle, Marc Staal and Olli Juolevi.