The Minnesota Wild bolstered their blueline on Monday, acquiring longtime veteran and Minnesota native Jordan Leopold from Columbus.
In exchange, the Blue Jackets receive Justin Falk and a fifth-round pick at the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.
Leopold, 34, has split this season between St. Louis and Columbus, scoring one goal and three assists in 18 games with the Blue Jackets while averaging 17:15 TOI per night. He could be a useful piece for the Wild, who are dealing with injuries to Jared Spurgeon and Keith Ballard on the back end (and have a lot of youth on the blueline with the likes of Mathew Dumba and Christian Folin.)
Leopold carries a $1.75 million cap hit and is an unrestricted free agent at year’s end, so this is purely a rental for the Wild and some insurance for the playoff chase.