Islanders acquire Johnny Boychuk, Nick Leddy in separate trades
The New York Islanders acquired (from left) Nick Leddy and Johnny Boychuk Saturday. (USATSI)The New York Islanders were extremely busy Saturday. General manager Garth Snow, in a surprise move, acquired defenseman Nick Leddy from the Chicago Blackhawks and Johnny Boychuk from the Boston Bruins in separate trades.
Both the Bruins and Blackhawks needed to clear salary to maintain some flexibility under the cap and the Islanders needed some veteran help on what was looking to be an extremely young blue line.
In the Boychuk trade, the Islanders sent the Bruins second-round picks in the 2015 and 2016 NHL Drafts and a conditional third-round pick. For Leddy, the Isles traded to Chicago defensive prospect Ville Pokka, defenseman T.J. Brennan and restricted free agent goaltender Anders Nilsson. New York also got goalie prospect Kent Simpson as part of the return.
Both Leddy and Boychuk will be playing on contracts that expire after this season, and the Isles paid a fairly high price. That said, New York is deep on youth in their organization, which makes some of those picks and prospects a tad more expendable.
Now the Ilsanders have two players with postseason experience, a lot of NHL time and each have won the Stanley Cup.
Boychuk, 30, had a career-best 23 points last season as a member of Boston's top-four defense. Over 321 NHL games, Boychuk has 75 points including 19 goals. He also has 79 career playoff games and was part of the Bruins 2011 Stanley Cup team, experience that will greatly benefit the Islanders. He will be an unrestricted free agent when his contract expires.
Leddy, 24, had 31 points last season as a bottom-pairing defenseman for Chicago. The former first-round pick of the Minnesota Wild, has appeared in 258 NHL games, all with Chicago, and has 93 career points in the league. He has 54 games of postseason experience and was part of Chicago's 2013 Stanley Cup team. Leddy will be a restricted free agent after the season ends.
By adding Boychuk and Leddy, the Isles get experience and take some of the pressure of off No. 1 defenseman Travis Hamonic to eat so many minutes and allows the Isles to keep some of their young blueliners out of situations they aren't ready for.
Boychuk instantly improves the team's ability to defend and their overally physicality, while Leddy brings another power-play weapon and will likely get more ice time in New York than he could on Chicago's deep blue line.
You really have to commend Garth Snow for his ability to exploit two cap-strapped teams for everyday players that are going to help the Isles immediately.
The Bruins take on no additional salary, which was the goal after the B's had zero cap flexibility thanks to the bonus overages from a year ago. Bruins fans are likely to be disappointed by the return, but Peter Chiarelli had little choice with the cap situation.
Chicago, meanwhile, builds onto their already deep prospect pool on defense with Pokka. Brennan, who has bounced between the AHL and NHL over the last few years is a good option as a potential cheap call-up. He had 72 points for the Toronto Marlies in the AHL last year and has 40 games of NHL experience. Nilsson is currently a restricted free agent without a new contract. He is currently playing in the KHL, so the Blackhawks would merely retain his rights without having to spend the cash.
The feelings are bound to mixed in Chicago and Boston, but this is what happens in a salary cap league sometimes. The big winner of the day, however, is the Islanders and the benefits of this deal could be visible immediately.
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