Morning Notes: Leddy, Crosby, Nedeljkovic
Yesterday at 09:23 AM
Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic speculated on the future of defenseman Nick Leddy and the St. Louis Blues. Rutherford doesn't think the Blues can count on more than bottom-pairing minutes from the veteran rearguard, who has one year remaining on his contract after this season at a $4MM cap hit. The 33-year-old is out with a lower-body injury and appeared close to a return as he was travelling with the team on their road trip. However, the injury flared up, and he was forced to return to St. Louis.
The former Stanley Cup Champion has played just four games this season after playing a full slate of games last year. He hasn't posted any points this year, but he did tally three goals and 25 assists last season, which were his best offensive numbers since the shortened 2020-21 season while he was a member of the Islanders.
In other morning notes:
- Josh Yohe of The Athletic writes that Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby wasn't thrilled with some fans who attended last night's 6-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche. Crosby, who is notoriously positive, commented on the Penguins winning five of their last seven games, saying, "You wouldn't know it tonight. Would you? I mean, getting booed on the power play (in the third period.)" The Penguins were down 4-2 at the time and weren't generating much with the man advantage. However, the club has turned around in recent weeks and was coming off arguably their best game of the season on Saturday against Toronto. Crosby showed visible frustration at the end of last night's game, smashing his stick after Colorado scored an empty netter to clinch the game.
- Penguins' backup goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic took a puck to the face while sitting on the bench last night in the Penguins' loss (as per Josh Yohe of The Athletic). The 28-year-old was hit under his right eye by a puck in the first period and came back out in the second period sporting a black eye. Nedeljkovic told reporters that he would be fine, so it doesn't appear to be a cause for concern going forward. The Penguins haven't received great goaltending this season from Nedeljkovic as he has struggled to a 4-5-3 record with a 3.37 goals-against average and a .882 save percentage.
