Pending league approval, the Pittsburgh Penguins have picked up 6′ 1″ Florida Panthers defenseman Jordan Leopold for a 2nd round draft pick. Leopold’s salary and cap hit is $1.75 million and he will become a unrestricted free agent at the end of this season.
29 year old Leopold has played for 4 different teams, the Penguins will be the fifth.
This could be a sign that Gonchar’s days are numbered. More to follow…
Leopold in the Panthers/Capital game was on the ice every time the great Ovetjkin was out there and he bottled him up pretty good. Not like Shea Weber Boom– Boom— Boomed him in the Olympics but did make him a non-factor.
Although at first I thought that Gonchar’s days may be over than on second pass this opening for the Stanley Cup is only a small window. I think this is Leopold as a third pair puck moving defenseman with the ability to move up if someone is injured. Skoula appears to be the obvious one out. Florida makes a nice deal getting a 2nd round pick for a UFA so this ends-up a win-win for both teams. The Penguins however has to shed salary to make any other deals before the deadline.
Leopold is maybe a 2nd pairing defenseman. Using a 2nd round pick for him seems a little bit expensive unless Shero believes he’s going to re-sign him. Shero must figure he’s going to finally hit that 50/60 points a year everyone expected from him. Is Gonchar out of here? He chunks up a lot of minutes and is one the better PP defensemen but then again look at our PP. It’s all about results. Seems to be too high of a price for Leopold unless Shero already has Gonchar headed elsewhere. I would think with that won and lost record with Gonchar that this would be not too smart unless for sure Shero knows he can’t sign him.
Brings up the question of if Gonchar traded – to who?
I was just reading about Leopold, he had a concussion a year or so ago which means he is prone to concussions, wonder how that will play out. I also read that Gonchar and Shero can’t agree on a contract. Picking up Leopold would definitely show Gonchar that Shero is prepared to move him if he won’t take his deal. I’m hoping if Shero dumps Gonchars salary it’s for a good winger and a defenseman with a Ulf Samuelsson like attitude.
Starting to look like Shero and Gonch’s agent may not have been able to come to terms on the length of an extension. I know Gonch wanted 3 years, and the Pens were offering 2. Might he be moved now to free up some cap space to allow them to bring in a stay at home defenseman and a possibly a winger?