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The Islanders had been rumored here to have had interest in Nock Leddy for some time, and now they have their man.
The Hawks are finally under the salary cap, and assuming defenseman TJ Brennan clears waivers, Stan Bowman appears to have assembled three players with some kind of upside in return for the gifted, but enigmatic and well paid Leddy.
The jewel of the deal for Chicago might be Finnish defenseman Ville Pokka, a former 2nd round pick of the Isle, and a rock-solid blueliner in the mode the Hawks love. Pokka will join Brennan in Rockford.
They also picked up huge Swedish goaltender Anders Nilsson, who appears to be an upgrade over Kent Simpson (also sent to the Isle), and Brennan a 25 year old defenseman who will jpoin the corps of prospects and fringe NHLers like David Rundblad, Kyle Cumiskey and Klas Dahlbeck, all hoping to replace Leddy on the Hawk roster. Brennan was highly regarded by the Isle and had a nice camp with them.
Nilsson is playng with Ak Bars Kazan in the KHL at present.
Checking messages while on vacation, after the deal went down, I heard Buffalo, Calgary and possibly Detroit mentioned as being in the Leddy hunt. The Hawks also toyed with moving Michal Rozsival, Jeremy Morin and Ben Smith as part of Leddy deals. I'll have more back story tomorrow.
I'll also take a look at your opening night roster, which will likely be without Teuvo Teravainen (assigned to Rockford today).
All for now,
JJ