Barker To Wild For Kim Johansson And Nick Leddy
February 12th, 2010 | by Christopher Ralph |Just before the Olympic trade freeze, GM Stan Bowman has pully off a nifty trade.
As our friends over at TSN report:
Nick Leddy #5 "In Some Good Company" {Photo: Brace Hemmelgarn - Flickr}
The Chicago Blackhawks have dealt defenceman Cam Barker to the Minnesota Wild for defenceman Kim Johnsson and 2009 first round pick, defenceman Nick Leddy.
The 23-year old Barker, who is the in the middle of the first year of his three-year, $9.25 million contract has recorded 4 goals and 10 assists in 51 games this season.
Barker, was one of the five players in Chicago whose qualifying offers did not arrive on time last summer. That led to a grievance being filed by the NHL Player’s Association.
The result was that the Hawks gave Barker a more significant raise then they had to, if the qualifying offers were handled properly.
Johnsson, who has six goals and eight assists in 52 games this season is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
Leddy has played 19 games with the University of Minnesota, posting 1 goal with 4 assists and 4 penalty minutes.
In a season preview, I thought this might just be the year Cam Barker breaks out and becomes a true thoroughbred on the blueline. While he still has plenty of potential, his window of opportunity is narrowing. HIs contract is obviously a hinderance to the impending cap crunch the ‘Hawks will face moving ahead.
Nick Leddy is a key component of this deal. In my draft preview for 2009, I had this to say about Leddy (click on his name for complete profile):
Nick Leddy {Photo: Brace Hemmelgarn - Flickr}
One-Timer: The recently crowned “Mr. Hockey”, as the best high-school player in Minnesota high school, is a tad on the small side, but boy is he fast! He is a very poised player and an uncanny ability to make plays at high speeds. He posses very good vision and thus makes intelligent decisions on both sides of the rink, to go with his exceptional skating ability. He will be attending the University of Minnesota in 2009.
NHL Player(s) Comparison: Kris Russell, Dan Boyle, Brian Rafalski
*PIB gives GM Bowman a grade “A” on this deal.
Stay tuned as PIB takes a look at further potential deals GM Stan Bowman and staff could be cooking up before the March 3rd trade deadline.
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Tags: cam barker, Chicago Blackhawks, Kim Johansson, Minnesota Wild, Nick Leddy, stan bowman, Trade Deadline
By Vince on Feb 12, 2010
I think this trade works for both sides. Johnsson is a steady top 4 D-man and comes off the books next year. Leddy is a good prospect for their organization. Barker will get way more icetime in Minnesota, and is still young enough to develop his game (mainly defensively).