St. Louis Blues Trade Grades: 2014-2015

By Kate Cimini | Jun 6, 2015

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Leopold wasn’t a huge player for the Blues while he was around, but his possession numbers during his time in St. Louis were solid, coming in third overall in Corsi For% (meaning his possession was excellent) on the Blues in the 2014-2015 season, despite being traded off after playing only seven games. (Of course, a smaller sample size can inflate numbers drastically.)

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He scored only one goal in his three seasons with the Blue Note on his chest and while earlier in his career was a strong offensive defenseman, that was in a different system and on a different team. The Blues had a strong enough d-corps that he didn’t get the playing time he might have liked, nor did he produce the points they acquired him for.

To be fair, part of that is the way he was used on the Blues — as a penalty killer rather than a power play D-man. He might have posted stronger numbers points-wise had he seen different minutes, but he did his job as a shut-down defender decently.

After his performance on the Blues, sending him to Columbus in exchange for a fifth-round pick is fine. Had he seen different use in St. Louis the Blues might have been able to get a third- or fourth-rounder for him, but his play on the Blues hardly warranted more. He was a healthy scratch in nine separate games prior to being traded this season, with the Blues calling up Chris Butler from their AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves to replace him.

The Blues likely missed his calm, positive presence in the room, but with a decent number of veterans on the team, it doesn’t make or break the situation.

Leopold went on to be traded to Minnesota by Columbus after his daughter, Jordyn Leopold, wrote an incredibly adorable letter, asking for him to be sent closer to his family.

This trade gets a C for being incredibly average.

Next: Maxim Lapierre

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