The New York Rangers traded veteran forward Cody McLeod to the Nashville Predators for a seventh-round pick on Wednesday afternoon.
After an illustrious 56 game stint as a member of the New York Rangers, Cody McLeod’s tenure with the original six franchise came to an end. After the previous few days, the trade market for this year’s deadline is finally getting the gears turning after a slow start. Prior to adding McLeod, Nashville also traded for Brian Boyle of the New Jersey Devils a couple of hours earlier.
With 19 days to go until the trade deadline, Jeff Gorton, the Rangers general manager, officially got the ball rolling. The trade of McLeod, who played in 31 of New York’s first 52 games this season, is interesting in that Gorton was able to get a seventh-round pick for a player that he claimed off of waivers less than a year ago.
In McLeod’s time as an enforcer, he was limited to an average ice time of 7:18 per game. The forward recorded one goal and a total of three points in the brief span. Although he was not on the team for a long time or a particularly crucial component of either team, there was a place for him on the fourth line as the punch line of jokes for the analytics community.
As the NHL changed this decade from a size and physical style of play to a more speed oriented style, these type of players faded into obscurity. Of the 31 NHL teams, just a handful of the traditional enforcers remain. Granted, three of them are members of the New York Islanders but the point still remains.
Going forward this does leave an open forward spot in the lineup. As of now, the team is calling up forward Vinni Lettieri from Hartford for the game against the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night.
Rangers able to get a seventh from Nashville for McLeod, who in 56 games of limited minutes for NYR was on for 6 goals for and 27 against...Blueshirts recalling Lettieri (12-15=27 in 29 AHL games) for tonight v Bruins
— Larry Brooks (@NYP_Brooksie) February 6, 2019
This is not a particularly important move in the grand scheme of the Rangers’ rebuild because of McLeod’s small role with the team. However, it does send a message to the rest of the league that Gorton has a working cell phone and other assets he’d be interested in moving.
In addition, this is a perfect example of working the market in a successful way. A seventh-round pick has a low yield rate in terms of success, but there is more inherent value with a draft selection than an enforcer playing less than ten minutes per night.
We thank McLeod for always putting his body on the line for his teammates and of course, for fighting future Ranger Adam McQuaid twice in the same night in the midst of a massive blowout. Best of luck in the music city and hope that seventh-round pick yields something in return.