Blues get Leddy, Witkowski in deadline day deal

About an hour before the NHL's 2 p.m. Trade Deadline, St. Louis Blues General Manager Doug Armstrong made a big move, acquiring defensemen Nick Leddy and Luke Witkowski from the Detroit Red Wings.
To make the move possible, Detroit retained 50 percent of Leddy's salary in the deal.
In exchange, the Red Wings received forward Oskar Sundqvist, defenseman Jake Walman and a second-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.

"I think as the season progressed and we started to look for a defenseman, (Nick) was on that list of players that we've scouted intensely over the last couple of months," Armstrong said. "He's a guy that can log big minutes at important times of the year on teams that play deep (into the playoffs). He's a skater, a puck-mover, and I think it's a dimension that will add to our group. With (Marco) Scandella, (Niko) Mikkola and (Robert) Bortuzzo, they are very similar players. (Jake) Walman is also a skater but doesn't have the experience of a player like Nick. This gives us the option to play Nick with Colton (Parayko) or (Justin) Faulk and have the coaches work all six or seven of these guys into the lineup."
"Our situation this year was dollar-in, dollar-out," Armstrong said of trying to make deals while near the salary cap. "When you bring a player like Nick in, we had to move out $5.5 million in cap space. Detroit was able to assume half of that and the Sundqvist portion equaled $5.5 (million) and we were able to make a deal where (it was) dollar-in, dollar-out."
Leddy is a 12-year NHL veteran that has played with the Chicago Blackhawks, New York Islanders and the Red Wings. This season in Detroit, Leddy has played in 55 games and has collected 16 points (one goal, 15 assists). In 831 career regular-season contests, Leddy has posted 352 points (66 goals, 286 assists) and has also made the postseason nine times, helping capture the Stanley Cup with the Blackhawks in 2013. He is currently in the final year of a seven-year contract he originally signed with the Islanders in 2015.
Witkowski, 31, has spent the majority of the season with the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins and will report to the Springfield Thunderbirds. Witkowski has played in 132 NHL games, posting 13 points (two goals, 11 assists) and 162 penalty minutes in stints with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Red Wings.
"He's a big, sturdy defender that plays with an edge," Armstrong said of Witkowski. "We get an (experienced) player we know we can use if necessary if injuries happen."

Armstrong said anytime he makes decisions to trade players from the roster, it can be difficult. The same was true this time.
"Sunny has been one of my favorite players, quite honestly," Armstrong said. "He's always got a smile on, I've always enjoyed being around him. The last couple of years we've spent a lot of time together at the practice rink as he's been coming back and working hard from his injuries. (He is) always going to have a great memory here as a Blue… but you have to create space to make these deals, and the role he was playing on our team right now with a flat cap, he wasn't in our Top 9 at a $2.75 million cap hit, and we have to make sure we're spreading that out in ways we can put a top team on the ice. But all in all, Oskar Sundqvist is going to be remembered fondly here, on and off the ice. I wish him nothing but the best health-wise, I wish him speedy recoveries from the surgeries he's had. I think he's going to be a good player for a long time. This organization was better having him be a part of it than it was before he got here.
"There's excitement, there's relief, there's disappointment when you make trades of players you hold in high esteem like Sundqvist and Walman. It's difficult to see them go," Armstrong added. "But you're getting a player like Leddy that has played in the last two playoffs, played into the third round, playing more than 22 minutes a night, you're getting an experienced player… We're focused on now until the end of the season, and then we're going to reassess our whole group on how we played, what the final result was and how we can make sure we're a very competitive team next year."