Monday afternoon, a few hours before the NHL Trade Deadline, the Detroit Red Wings traded veteran left-shot defenseman Nick Leddy to the St. Louis Blues for a couple of players and a 2023 second-round draft pick.
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
Oskar Sundqvist
Sundqvist is a 27 year old center from Sweden. Drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2012, Sundqvist eventually moved on to St. Louis, where he found a consistent place on their NHL roster.
For most of his career, Sundqvist has been a bottom-six center, mainly used as depth. In 41 games with the Blues this season, he has four goals and 11 assists. His career high in points was back in 2018-19 – he scored 14 goals and 17 assists that year. Sundqvist’s possession metrics are terrible – his Corsi-for relative percentage is -12.2 and his Fenwick-for is -9.6. Surprisingly, his wins above replacement and goals above replacement are not bad – 2.9 GAR and 0.5 WAR
With the Red Wings, Sundqvist will essentially be more depth. With Mitchell Stephens still injured, he’s just another body to fill the center position. Don’t expect too much.
Jake Walman
Drafted in 2014 by the Blues, Walman is a left-shot defenseman that has played mainly a depth role with the organization throughout his career. In 32 games this season, Walman has three goals and three assists – nothing special. However, the rest of his statistics are actually pretty solid. His Corsi-for relative percentage is 4.3 and his Fenwick-for is 6.6. Walman’s WAR is only -0.1 and his GAR is -0.7, but his expected rates are both better, 4.3 GAR and 0.8 WAR.
Essentially, Walman is a defensive-defenseman that is slightly underperforming his projected output this season. Statistically, he’s quite solid, which is a far cry from what the Red Wings had in Nick Leddy. Walman will essentially replace Leddy’s role on the left side.
Verdict?
Essentially, the Red Wings traded away Leddy for a (statistically) better defenseman, more depth down the center and draft capital for the future. While it doesn’t move the needle much, it was an intelligent use of assets, and should be considered a win.