Late Friday night, the Detroit Red Wings and New York Islanders struck a deal sending defenseman Nick Leddy to Detroit in exchange for Richard Panik (50% of his salary retained) and Edmonton’s 2021 2nd Round Pick (52nd Overall). The Red Wings got a quality player in a position of need and the Islanders gained some cap room for the upcoming offseason. This trade came as a bit of a surprise as Detroit is in a rebuild and decided to give up assets for a veteran defenseman who isn’t likely to be a part of the team’s long term future. The Islanders on the other hand, got Richard Panik at a discounted price and a pick for Leddy who had a good chance of being lost in the expansion draft to Seattle.
New York Islanders Grade: A-
This was a great trade from New York’s end.
From the Islanders perspective, they shed salary and have one less quality defenseman to protect in the upcoming expansion draft. Had they held on to Leddy, they could have lost him for nothing to Seattle. By trading him to Detroit, New York gained a premium asset in the 2nd Round for a player they had prepared to lose. By trading Leddy, New York gained $4.1 million in much needed cap space. With this new-found cap flexibility, the Islanders can pursue some more of the coveted free agents and players on the trade block. This trade and the Andrew Ladd trade could pave the way for the signing of Gabriel Landeskog, Chris Driedger, Zach Hyman, or a similar free agent. New York also gained Richard Panik at half cost and while he’s not a major piece, he is a solid bottom-6 forward. He could fit in well with Barry Trotz’s system and be flipped later if he doesn’t work out with the team. Overall, GM Lou Lamoriello made a great move by away Nick Leddy for quality assets and gaining cap space in the process.
Detroit Red Wings Grade: C+
Now Detroit’s decision to trade for Nick Leddy was not a bad one. Leddy will easily be Detroit’s best defenseman barring some serious regression. Leddy is a left-shot defenseman, which fills an immediate need for the Red Wings in the short term. With Mortiz Seider likely joining the Red Wings next season, Leddy could become a good mentor for the young defenseman. In his entrance interview, Leddy stated, “Taking younger guys under my wing is something I’ve always tried to do. And for me leading on the ice by example is what I’ve always been about”. It’s clear he’s prepared to help development of the team’s prospects which will provide long term value for the organization. So what’s the issue? Well Detroit have up a 2nd round pick, which is a lot of value, for a player who the Islanders weren’t going to protect in the expansion draft anyway. This means that Detroit essentially gave up a good asset to help a team in a bind. New York also gained a bunch of cap space by losing Leddy which alone should have decreased the value that Detroit gave up to make the trade happen in the first place. In a vacuum, this would be a decent move value-wise for Detroit if there was no pressure of the expansion draft. Since this trade was before the expansion draft, Detroit had to use one of their protection spots for Leddy and took away a spot for Troy Stecher. Stecher was Detroit’s best defenseman last year which will hurt to lose him to Seattle without gaining assets. This is without the added fact that Richard Panik was also sent to New York with 50% of his salary retained. Panik isn’t a needle mover but at half cost he should have at least bumped that 2nd Round Pick down to a 3rd Rounder. It just seems Detroit helped a cap strapped team and lost assets instead of gaining them, which isn’t ideal. However, in all the move will help develop Mortiz Seider and that has value in itself. It also may be noted that Leddy could be flipped at this year's trade deadline with retention by Detroit to hopefully get a 1st Round Pick. If Detroit can get a 1st Rounder at the deadline for him then this trade grade will instantly bump up to a B+ or A.
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