Red Wings Trade Leddy, Witkowski to St. Louis

The Detroit Red Wings made an expected move in the lead-up to Monday’s NHL trade deadline, sending veteran defenseman Nick Leddy to the St. Louis Blues for Oscar Sundqvist, Jake Walman, and a second-round pick.

Luke Witkowski, currently with the Grand Rapids Griffins, also goes to St. Louis as part of the deal.

UPDATE: The Detroit #RedWings today acquired defenseman Jake Walman, center Oskar Sundqvist, and a 2nd round pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for defensemen Nick Leddy and Luke Witkowski. pic.twitter.com/JC8CupZ5wH

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) March 21, 2022

Leddy had been a healthy scratch in games against the Vancouver Canucks and Seattle Kraken last week to prevent him from being injured before a trade could be worked out.

Leddy was acquired by the Red Wings for a second-round draft pick last summer.  With Sundqvist, Walman, and Witkowski all depth pieces, the core of the deal is essentially Leddy for a second-rounder, meaning that the cost of Detroit renting Leddy for most of this season was punting a second-round pick from 2021 to 2023.

Sundqvist is a fourth-line forward with one year left on his contract after this one, carrying a salary cap hit of $2.75 million.  Walman, a defenseman, will be a restricted free agent this summer.

I like the deal.  I was beginning to think there was no way Leddy would bring back a second-rounder and I’m glad to see that.  The rest is a big “meh” from me but it doesn’t matter with that second included.