Avalanche fourth-line winger and middleweight enforcer Cody McLeod was traded Friday but didn’t go anywhere. The longest-tenured Colorado player was dealt to the Nashville Predators, who face the Avs on Saturday afternoon at the Pepsi Center.
McLeod, 32, is expected to debut for his second NHL team against his former team, and the Avs are bracing to go to battle against their former alternate captain who led the NHL in fighting majors last season.
“We don’t expect him to do anything else,” Colorado captain Gabe Landeskog said Friday after practice. “I’ve never seen a game where he goes out there every single shift and he doesn’t give it 100 percent. I would expect nothing less of him (Saturday), and coming to a new team I’m sure he’s going to want to show them his best.”
He added: “It will be weird seeing his name on the other jersey.”
In return for McLeod, who was in his 10th season in Colorado, the Avalanche acquired minor-league center Felix Girard. The trade could be the first of many for the last-place Avs, who are intent on getting younger.
“Toughest part of this business, the connections that you make and the friendships that you make,” Landeskog said. “Cody is a great teammate. We played together now for almost six years and he laid it out on the line every single practice and every single game. He’s a great teammate and a good friend of mine. Tough to see him go, but we’ll see him (Saturday).”
Girard, 22, is in his third season with the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL and will join the Avalanche’s affiliate in the same league, the San Antonio Rampage. He was Nashville’s fourth-round pick in 2013 and had 45 goals in four seasons of major junior with Baie-Comeau. Listed at 5-foot-11 and 196 pounds, he has 12 goals and 38 points in 172 games with the Admirals.
McLeod is under contract through next season, at a cap hit of $1.33 million, and the Avalanche will retain 40 percent of his salary as part of the deal. A frequent healthy scratch with the Avalanche this season, he has one goal and no assists in 28 games, with a team-high 52 penalty minutes after he fought Anaheim’s Joseph Cramarossa in the second period of Colorado’s 4-1 loss to the Ducks on Thursday night. His 12 fighting majors last season led the NHL, and he has eight this season.
Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic said he first spoke with McLeod about possibly being moved last week, and noted that the Predators had expressed interest. Sakic said he ran going to Nashville past McLeod before concluding the deal Friday morning. He said McLeod hadn’t requested a trade but had told Sakic that a deal with Nashville would be fine with him. He said that McLeod didn’t know Thursday that the game against Anaheim would be his last for Colorado.
“We still had to come up with a deal,” Sakic said. “Before I called David (Poile, the Predators’ GM), I wanted to make sure this is what Cody wanted to do. … I respect Cody for what he’s done. I played with him. He’s nothing but class. After all the work he’s put in for the Avalanche, I asked Cody what he wanted to do. I was going to treat him like basically he had a no-move (clause). I gave him the opportunity, I told him it was Nashville. I asked him if that was something he wanted to do. We know where we are in the standings, and he wanted a chance to go to a contender and fight for the playoffs.
“We moved him as, first of all, a favor to him and give him an opportunity. And he welcomed it. I know it was probably a hard decision for him, but I think hockey-wise, where he is in his career, he wants a chance. This is all respect for Cody.”
Is this a salary dump?
“No,” said Sakic. “It does create room for us going forward. We picked up (Matt) Nieto, so it’s a roster move as well. When E.J. (injured Erik Johnson) comes back, we’re going to be at 23. This wasn’t a salary move, it was a move to give Cody McLeod a chance to go somewhere. Like I said, he’s done everything for the Avalanche he could. He’s a tremendous player, a tremendous person. He was an Avalanche. I wanted to give him the opportunity to try and make another run.”
McLeod signed with Colorado as an undrafted free agent in 2006 and after stints in the ECHL and AHL, joined the Avalanche for the final 49 games of the 2007-08 season. He was an alternate captain from 2012 until this season.
McLeod recently told The Post that the Avalanche’s current situation — and his own — was frustrating.
“We’re professionals and it’s a privilege to play in the NHL,” he said. “But I feel like I can still play and contribute more than what I’m getting right now. It’s more frustrating that we’re losing, and the way we’re losing hockey games. I wish I was more part of it.”
He said of trade possibilities: “We’ll see when that time comes. But I love Denver and my family is here. We love the fans and we’ll probably stay here when I retire. But at the end of the day, I want to win. I want a chance to win the Stanley Cup. … I feel like I come to play hard every night. I know I’m not the most talented guy, and I’m getting older. But I still feel like I have more to give.”
This raises the possibility of other veterans outside the Avalanche core being traded in a fire sale, with Colorado scraping the salary-cap ceiling.
“We are where we are,” said Sakic. “So as we go forward to the March 1 deadline, yeah we’re going to be looking to make some moves.”
Sakic made it clear that the Avalanche considers Girard an organizational player, not a prospect.
“We wanted to get Girard,” Sakic said. “He was a player we targeted more for San Antonio. We like what he brings. He brings grit, he brings leadership, he’s a former captain and he’s the type of guy you want to surround your players with down there to help out. PK, third-line center, he’s a tenacious player and he’s a guy we want down there.”
NASHVILLE AT COLORADO, 1 p.m. Saturday, ALT, 950 AM
Spotlight on: Ryan Johansen. The Predators’ leading scorer has spearheaded their 3-0 record over Colorado this season, producing a goal and an assist in each of the first two games — 5-1 and 5-3 victories — and is on a four-game points streak overall against the Avs. Johansen, who is represented by Denver-based agent Kurt Overhardt, is otherwise struggling in the goals department. Since scoring 33 and 26 goals in two seasons ending in 2014-15 with Columbus, he had just 15 last season and has seven in 42 games this season. Johansen, 24, was acquired from Columbus for defenseman Seth Jones midway through last season.
NOTEBOOK:
Predators — They have won the last four games against the Avalanche, having averaged 4.5 goals during that stretch. … In Denver, Nashville has won three consecutive games and scored five goals each game. … Goalie Juuse Saros on Thursday made 35 saves in a 2-1 win against Boston and, among goalies with at least two games played, he leads the NHL in goals-against average (1.25) and save percentage. … All-star defenseman P.K. Subban is on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. Defenseman Roman Josi and forward Colin Wilson are also out with injuries. … The Preds are 13-0-4 when scoring first, 8-0-2 when leading after one period and 15-0-4 when taking a lead into the third.
Avalanche — Semyon Varlamov will start in goal. … The Avs are 5-14-1 at home. … Mikko Rantanen and Rene Bourque are the latest wingers on Nathan MacKinnon’s line, formed Friday at practice. Center Matt Duchene will skate between Gabe Landeskog and newcomer Matt Nieto. The third line has wingers Blake Comeau and Jarome Iginla with Carl Soderberg. … Andreas Martinsen has been a healthy scratch four times but is less likely to sit out with Cody McLeod traded to Nashville. Martinsen is not afraid to drop the gloves. … On Martin Luther King Day, forward Blake Comeau and defenseman Tyson Barrie will help serve 1,200 meals at the Volunteers of America “Those Who Fight Hunger Dinner” Monday from 3-4 p.m. at Volunteers of American Sunset Park, 1865 Larimer Street in Denver.
Mike Chambers, The Denver Post
