The San Jose Sharks claimed St. Louis Blues defenseman Nick Leddy on waivers Thursday, per The Athletic’s Chris Johnston, gaining an experienced defenseman and providing salary-cap relief to the Blues on a player who had been buried on the depth chart.
Leddy has one season left on a four-year, $16 million contract ($4 million average annual value). The Blues are now off the hook for Leddy’s $3 million salary and $4 million cap hit in 2025-26.
The 34-year-old was drafted by the Minnesota Wild at No. 16 in 2009. His rights were traded to the Chicago Blackhawks, with whom he won a Stanley Cup in 2013. He played seven seasons for the New York Islanders after that, making two trips to the Stanley Cup playoffs’ semifinal round. He then played part of one season for the Detroit Red Wings before being traded to the Blues.
Overall, Leddy has played 1,042 regular-season games in the NHL. The 6-foot, 205-pound defenseman has 75 goals and 416 points in the regular season. He’s played 137 postseason games and has eight goals and 39 points.
Leddy played in just 31 games with the Blues last season because of an undisclosed injury. St. Louis traded for Logan Mailloux on Tuesday, effectively replacing him on the roster for 2025-26.
Why the Blues waived him
Blues general manager Doug Armstrong is revamping his defense, and parting ways with Leddy was an obvious move.
The goal has been to get younger and bigger on the blue line. They brought in 6-foot-4 Philip Broberg, 24, via an offer sheet last summer, then added 6-foot-3 Mailloux, 22, via a trade for Zack Bolduc. They also want to give 6-foot-1 Tyler Tucker, 25, more opportunity. So Leddy no longer fit.
The Blues’ trade for Leddy in 2022 shouldn’t be viewed as a bad one. He played 211 games with the team, filling in on the top pair or wherever he was needed, and provided a veteran presence.
But the Blues were going in a different direction, and by making this move now, they’re able to eliminate a substantial salary off the 2025-26 cap. — Rutherford
What he brings to the Sharks
The Sharks are getting a smooth-skating veteran who can still be a third-pair defenseman in the league and higher in a pinch. In 2024-25 with the Blues, he was on the ice for 29 five-on-five goals for and 21 against, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Leddy didn’t play on the Blues’ power play, but he has during his career. He averaged about 40 seconds per game on the penalty kill last season but wasn’t very effective. All in all, if the Sharks are just looking for depth, there are worse options in the league than him. — Rutherford
Where he fits on the Sharks
Claiming Leddy was on the table for the Sharks the moment he was put on waivers. Even after signing John Klingberg, trading for goalie Alex Nedeljkovic and adding forwards Adam Gaudette and Philipp Kurashev, San Jose still needed to reach the cap floor. Re-signing William Eklund, as they did Tuesday, wouldn’t help with that as his three-year deal with a $5.6 million AAV doesn’t kick in until 2026-27.
Defense was the prime area to improve, and the Sharks needed all kinds of help after allowing a league-high 310 goals in 2024-25. Leddy has never been known as a pure shutdown blueliner and it’s unclear just how much he can help the Sharks cut down their goals against, but they have gained 1,042 games of experience in Leddy (on top of adding Klingberg and Dmitry Orlov, the latter also on Thursday) and the 15-year veteran can still skate and help a team transition from defense to offense.
Only two seasons ago, Leddy played all 82 games for St. Louis and chipped in 28 points while averaging more than 22 minutes. With just this coming season left on his contract, the Sharks could do what they’ve done recently with others like Jake Walman in squeezing out some production and minutes to flip him for an asset at the trade deadline. — Stephens
(Photo: Robert Edwards / USA Today)