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Trade: Blues send Leopold to Blue Jackets for fifth-rounder

Calgary Flames v St. Louis Blues

ST. LOUIS, MO - OCTOBER 11: Jordan Leopold #33 of the St. Louis Blues handles the puck against the Calgary Flames on October 11, 2014 at Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Scott Rovak/NHLI via Getty Images)

NHLI via Getty Images

The Columbus Blue Jackets might be getting healthier, but they have enough bumps and bruises on their blueline that they needed to trade for some help. They did so on Saturday, grabbing veteran defenseman Jordan Leopold from the St. Louis Blues for a 2016 fifth-round pick.

Leopold, 34, has appeared in seven games this season, averaging just 13:04 minutes per night. He saw pretty limited action in St. Louis, yet the Blues’ deep defense probably accounts for some of that drop-off. He averaged as many as 23:20 minutes per game during his peak usage with the Buffalo Sabres in 2010-11 and has 659 NHL regular season games on his resume.

Leopold is in the final season of a deal that carries a $2.25 million cap hit. The Blues will retain a chunk of that salary to make the swap, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Jeremy Rutherford:

The Blues will recall Chris Butler and will still save some dough in the process:

With Fedor Tyutin out four-to-six weeks, this trade makes that much more sense for Columbus.

Follow James O’Brien @cyclelikesedins