NHL Rumors: Nick Leddy's Next Contract

Reports coming from Jeremy Rutherford, St. Louis Blues writer for The Athletic, say Nick Leddy is looking for at least $5 million AAV for 4-5 years on his next contract.

Leddy is 31 years old, so the term isn't a bad ask, but the money is a bit steep for many teams to even consider bringing him in. He was acquired by the Blues from the Detroit Red Wings in the final year of his 7-year, $38.5 million deal with a cap hit of $5.5 million per season. Past his prime, he is expecting to get a similar amount of money for his services after the league salary cap has been flat for a few seasons and he isn't the same defenseman he was when he signed his previous deal.

Returning to the Blues is already out of the question considering they have three defensemen with a cap hit of $6.5 million AAV, a buyout candidate in Marco Scandella, and three players on the rise in Calle Rosen, Niko Mikkola, and Scott Perunovich. This is on top of the Blues having little cap space to work with already considering they are very deep up front.

Leddy may get what he is looking for, but it won't be from a contender since most of those teams don't have money to throw around on a fourth defenseman at best at this stage of his career. He has won a Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks in his career, so he may just be looking for the final payday of his career.

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