Avalanche pay for Predators to take away Cody McLeod
As the slow autopsy on the Colorado Avalanche continues, one of the findings is that the cast of players surrounding their beleaguered core is – and this is a technical term – “not good.”
Cody McLeod, for example, appeared in 26 games for them this season. He plays 5:52 per game, but really crams a lot into that ice time: Not only are his 52 penalty minutes in the top 20 in the NHL this season, his puck possession numbers (39.38 Corsi percentage) are staggeringly terrible. And the Avalanche were due to have him for another contractual year.
Well, now it’s the Nashville Predators’ contract, as they flipped forward prospect Felix Girard to Colorado for McLeod on Friday. Girard will report to the Avs’ AHL affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage.
According to Pierre LeBrun, the Avalanche retained salary to make this happen:
FYI the Avs retain 40 percent of McLoed's salary/cap hit. He has another year on his deal next season at $1.33 M cap hit https://t.co/MqK2m0WJLf
— Pierre LeBrun (@Real_ESPNLeBrun) January 13, 2017
McLeod, 32, has put in his time with the Avs, having played his NHL career with the team since 2007-08. But to say his effectiveness as a player had declined would be an understatement, and being a “good dude in the room” only gets you so far. So good on the Avalanche finding a taker.
As for the Predators, GM David Poile has never shied away from adding some beefy fists to his roster – consider guys like Brian McGrattan in the past, for example – and if nothing else, Nashville is still waiting for that alarm clock on their playoff push to go off. Maybe a new face in the room is a start.
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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.
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