A little more than a week ago Colorado Avalanche veteran Cody McLeod talked about how there were going to be changes made to the team given their struggles on the ice.
He was right.
One of those changes involves him.
The Avalanche announced on Friday morning that they have traded McLeod to the Nashville Predators in exchange for forward Felix Girard. According to Pierre LeBrun, the Avalanche are retaining 40 percent of McLeod’s $1.33 million salary for next season as part of the trade.
McLeond, 32, has spent his entire career to this point with the Avalanche, playing in 659 games and scoring 66 goals. In 28 games this season he has just one point (a goal on Dec. 31 against the New York Rangers) in what has been a diminished role.
Girard will immediately report to the Avalanche’s AHL team in San Antonio. A fourth-round pick by the Predators in 2013, Girard has spent the past three seasons playing for the Milwaukee Admirals. He has three goals and five assists in 35 games this season.
Colorado currently has the the worst record in the NHL and is rumored to be considering major changes to its core. General manager Joe Sakic recently said the only players he would not consider trading at this point are Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Tyson Jost.
This trade is not really going to send any shockwaves through the league, but McLeod is still the veteran in that Avalanche locker room and it is clear that things are going to start changing.