In one of the most-criticized Avalanche trades, Colorado sent a Hobey Baker Award winner – Chris Drury – to the Calgary Flames in 2002.
Last summer, in a deal that initially triggered both wariness and dissent, the Avalanche dealt with Calgary again, this time acquiring a Hobey Baker winner.
The Avs sent winger Alex Tanguay to the Flames for former University of Minnesota standout defenseman Jordan Leopold, who won the “Hobey” as college hockey’s top player in 2002. The teams also swapped draft choices, but the players were the centerpiece of the trade, with the Avalanche counting on Leopold spreading his wings, so to speak, after escaping the somewhat restrictive Calgary system.
It wasn’t that Leopold was bad at Calgary. He played a lot of minutes for the Flames. He averaged 22 minutes of ice time and was a plus-6 for one of the league’s stingiest teams. But when he came into the league, he was envisioned as more of an offensive threat from the blue line, and the Flames used him more as an interchangeable “D” man than a puck-moving force. In his three seasons at Calgary, he had only four, nine and two goals, respectively.
Especially in the wake of Rob Blake’s departure, the Avalanche will be hoping Leopold – who won’t be in the lineup until mid-October at the earliest because of offseason sports hernia surgery – puts up some eye- catching offensive numbers as well, complementing John- Michael Liles as a scoring threat among the defensemen.
With Brett Clark and Karlis Skrastins again likely to be on the first penalty-killing unit, Leopold probably won’t be on the ice in short-handed situations as often as he was in Calgary.
The Leopold file
Age: 26
Height: 6-1
Weight: 202
Position: D
Key stat: Been a plus in each of the past two seasons while offensive skills remained untapped.
Season projection: 14 goals, 32 assists.
The future: The longer the Avs keep him, the more likely they won’t be roasted for letting Alex Tanguay get away.
