Leddy to reach gold standard for NHL players in his 1,000th game in home state

Defenseman will become 391st NHL player in history to reach milestone for Blues against Wild on Saturday afternoon with no regrets

Nick Leddy wasn't sure what he wanted to do at the time.

Football and baseball had consumed much of the Eden Prairie, Minn. native's early life, as a running back, and as an outfielder, and those were viable options moving forward through his early teen years, but "more eighth, ninth grade, hockey kind of took over," the St. Louis Blues defenseman recalled. "That was kind of the sport I fell in love with. ... I had more of a passion for it. At that time, hockey was turning into a summer sport as well, so that's kind of why it took over."

Took over so much that 20 or so years later, the 33-year-old will become the 391st player in NHL history to suit up in 1,000 games, in his home state and against the team that drafted him when the Blues play against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.

"It's definitely a special one," Leddy said. "It's kind of hard to put into words. I think it's always been a goal since a certain point in my career. I never really thought about it growing up. Just thought about making it to the league and trying to have an impact. But as an individual goal, I think it's very special.

"I've been talking to family and friends about that (1,000 will be in Minnesota). I don't know what the odds are for that to happen, but very minimal. It's obviously great for me, easy for my family, friends that are there to make it.

"I don't know if that's the (gold) number, but I think it's just a special milestone. The crazy part is you look at a guy like [Patrick] Marleau or [Nicklas] Lidstrom that are like (500) to 700 more games and you're just like, 'Oh my gosh.' So many more games, years. Those are the idols. If you look at them and how long they've lasted as well, you see how well they take care of their body, how good players they are over long periods of time."

Leddy, who has 407 points (73 goals, 334 assists) in 999 games with the Chicago Blackhawks, New York Islanders, Detroit Red Wings and now the Blues, ascended into the sport playing for Eden Prairie High School before by the United States National Team Development Program's U-18 squad in 2007-08, then playing in an upper-elite high school hockey league before spending a year at the University of Minnesota before finally being drafted with the 16th pick in 2009 by the Wild:

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBaqCngqTdY[/embed]

He will be the fifth in his draft class (John Tavares, Ryan O'Reilly, Victor Hedman and Matt Duchene) to reach the milestone.

It couldn't have been a better story written for the beginning of one's career, to play professionally in one's home state. But Leddy never wore a Wild jersey. On February 12, 2010, Leddy's NHL rights were traded to the with defenseman Kim Johnsson in exchange for defenseman Cam Barker.

* Blackhawks, NHL journey begins

Leddy split his first professional season between the Blackhawks, where he played 46 games, and Rockford of the American Hockey League. He said his first defensive partner was shot-blocking extraordinaire Niklas Hjalmarsson because of an injury to Brian Campbell.

He played in his first NHL game on Oct. 7, 2010 against the Colorado Avalanche and played 19:21 that night; he would score his first NHL goal four nights later in Buffalo against the Sabres, his third NHL game.

"I would say a lot of nerves, excitement," Leddy said regarding his first game. "I think the biggest thing was probably just nervous not to let anyone down, especially with the team. I think the biggest thing was try and go play my game and go from there."

He played for Joel Quenneville, who began his NHL coaching career with the Blues who won three Stanley Cups in Chicago; Leddy won his only Cup in 2013 with current Blues teammate Brandon Saad.

"Yeah, and I think after winning one, it makes you hungrier to do it again," Leddy said. "Once you have that success, you want it more and more. Winning is the name of the game. You would definitely want to do that again.

"The ups and downs. Looking at two of the series, we were down 3-1 to Detroit, we ended up coming back and winning that one. You just learn that anything can happen with a little bit of luck, guys stay healthy and good play."

That same season, Leddy's first goal was a memorable one, in overtime Jan. 27, 2013 against the Red Wings:

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WLWd3WEVWQ[/embed]

Saad burst onto the NHL scene a year after Leddy and remembers someone that didn't bask in the limelight but was very helpful.

"He's a soft-spoken, mild-mannered guy, very humble," Saad said. "He's accomplished a lot and it's pretty impressive. I think coming up for me, we were around the same age, so he kind of took me under his wing, whether it was getting dinner or taking care of me on the road. It was just nice to have someone looking out for you, showing you the ropes.

"... It's pretty impressive. Time flies. It's pretty awesome that I got to start my career with him and then see him come to fruition here with hitting 1,000 games. It goes by quickly and I think he's got a lot of miles left on him."

Leddy's last memory in Chicago was an unfortunate one, however, when in Game 7 of the 2014 Western Conference Final against the Los Angeles Kings, Alec Martinez's wrister deflected off Leddy past Corey Crawford in overtime sending the Kings to the Stanley Cup Final.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObdZ5Z1d1QY[/embed]

Leddy was traded Oct. 4, 2014, along with goalie Kent Simpson to the Islanders in a cap-saving move for defensemen Ville Pokka and T.J. Brennan and the rights to goalie Anders Nilsson.

Four seasons and 258 games in Chicago, with 93 regular-season games (20 goals, 72 assists) had come to an end.

* On to Long Island

Leddy's move to the Islanders was projected with some uncertainty until he signed a seven-year, $38.5 million extension ($5.5 million average annual value) and spent seven seasons there, helping the Islanders reach the playoffs five times, including the Eastern Conference Final in his final two seasons there (2019-20, 2020-21) playing alongside Johnny Boychuk.

"Johnny Boychuk, I played with him on the Island for seven years," Leddy recalled. "He was my d-partner, six years. I was really close with him. We got traded there on the same day. Ever since that moment, we've been very close.

"Obviously the whole Islander team, still talk to a few guys from Chicago and my short stint in Detroit, obviously I made some quick connections as well there."

This was Leddy's longest stop, and 243 (45 goals, 198 assists) of his 407 points in 518 games came as an Islander.

* Next stop: Motown

With one year remaining on his contract and a looming Seattle Kraken Expansion Draf with the Islanders possibly not protecting the defenseman, New York traded Leddy to the Red Wings on July 18, 2021 for forward Richard Panik and a second-round pick in 2021.

But his stop in Detroit didn't last long; he played 55 games (one goal, 15 assists) with the Red Wings before heading south to the Gateway City.

* Hello St. Louis

The Blues were riding high that season and made a rather controversial move, in the fans' eyes at least, when they acquired Leddy and defenseman Luke Witkowski in exchange for popular forward Oskar Sundqvist, defenseman Jake Walman and a 2023 second-round pick on March 21, 2022.

Sundqvist was -- and again is -- a polarizing figure with the Blues, having helped them win the Stanley Cup in 2019 and will forever be etched in Blues fans' eyes. But Leddy came on and was paired with Colton Parayko; he helped the Blues eliminate the Wild in six games, including scoring the opening goal of Game 6 in St. Louis:

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDaP9XrxMQo[/embed]

Leddy has played just 168 of his 999 games thus far in St. Louis, and after being a big part in helping shut down Kirill Kaprizov in that opening-round series against the Wild in 2022 and putting up a valiant fight against the eventual Stanley Cup champ Colorado. He re-signed in St. Louis, a four-year, $16-million contract in 2022 and after going through a tough season with the rest of his Blues teammates when they fell out of postseason competition, he and Parayko have been a steadying combination this season.

"Obviously last year, we've been kind of building on a little bit and trying to find tendencies and just finding our games a little bit, but this year, I think we're finding that we're playing as ourselves," Parayko said. "That's kind of allowing us to build, just find how we can make ourselves better as a two-man unit. I think when we're playing better, everyone else is playing better too, not just us two. It obviously helps the team. Just trying to maximize our game as much as possible and help as much as possible."

Leddy has already put up one more point (24) in 70 games this season than he had in 78 games last season; his plus-10 is second-best on the Blues behind Robert Thomas and it's his best since he was a plus-18 with the Islanders in his first season there (2014-15). And his 22:17 average ice time is the most since 22:25 with the Islanders in 2017-18, all being a steady partner with Parayko. 

Leddy has 55 points (seven goals, 48 assists) in St. Louis.

"It's been great," Parayko said. "Been in the league for a while now, you always keep learning and playing with Colton, I've learned so much I think off the ice as well on the ice. I think this year especially we've really connected and played how I think we can play together as a d-partner. We always keep learning and keep playing.

"Obviously it's a special milestone. Obviously a great teammate, great guy, great player. Just super happy for him. Definitely get to see all the hard work he puts in every day and stuff like that too, to stay healthy and obviously one of the top d-men in the league. It's special to be able to play along side of him and to be his teammate. It's a privilege to play with him every game."

And it's been one pairing the Blues have consistently stuck with this season, under Craig Berube and now, interim coach Drew Bannister.

"Very impressive the longevity to be able to play a thousand games and go back to your hometown and be able to play it in front of your friends and family," Bannister said. "That's pretty special for him. Happy that he's able to play in that game and have his family and friends for it and do it in his hometown. It speaks to him how he carries himself, whether it's the work in the summer and to be able to go into those games and play in the grind that it takes. It says a lot about his character. Very low maintenance. Just comes to play and he's a real good pro."

Leddy purchased a suite at Xcel Energy Center for the game Saturday and said there will be roughly 20-30 family and friends and whoever they decide to bring to the 1 p.m. puck drop. He will become the 45th active player to reach 1,000 games, following along in the footsteps of some of those he grew up idolizing, and doing so in full circle.

"My dad [Mike] always told me to watch Lindstrom and Ray Bourque," Leddy said. "When I got traded to Chicago when I was still in college, Duncan Keith was the one I really watched, always tried paying attention to and kind of try and model myself after him on and off the ice.

"Crazy. Chances are so minimal. I don't even know what the odds would be, but it's going to be hopefully really special. I know it'll be special whenever it happens, especially to have family and friends there."

As for reaching Marleau's NHL record of 1,779 games played, or even Lidstrom, who is 14th at 1,564, Leddy laughed and said, "I don't know about that. We'll take it year by year."

The Blues will celebrate Leddy's 1,000th game prior to Monday's game against the Vegas Golden Knights at Enterprise Center. Leddy will be presented with gifts from the organization and his teammates to commemorate the milestone before the opening face-off.