Leddy-Keith pairing pays dividends for Blackhawks
Who would have thought prior to the season that the Blackhawks would be entering the critical month of March with 19-year-old rookie Nick Leddy playing significant minutes on defense as Norris Trophy winner Duncan Keith’s partner.
“It’s been a pretty crazy year so far,” Leddy said.
Talk about an understatement.
Twelve months ago Leddy was a freshman playing for the University of Minnesota, having just become property of the Hawks in a trade with the Minnesota Wild that one day might go down as general manager Stan Bowman’s best.
Bowman sent the disappointing Cam Barker to Minnesota in February 2010 for defenseman Kim Johnsson and Leddy, who was the Wild’s first-round pick (16th overall) in the 2009 draft.
Johnsson suffered a concussion and was a flop with the Hawks, who went on to win the Stanley Cup without him, but Leddy has turned out to be a steal.
Everything changed for Leddy after he came to the prospects camp last July and opened the eyes of Bowman and coach Joel Quenneville with his poised play.
It wasn’t long before the Hawks offered him a contract. Leddy signed, left school, then came to training camp and won a job on the opening night roster.
Leddy ultimately was sent to the minors for more seasoning after six games, but he was brought back in early January after playing for the United States in the World Junior Championships and has been a regular on the blue line ever since.
It was Quenneville’s idea to shake up his defense on Feb. 9 at Edmonton. He put Leddy with Keith and the pairing couldn’t have worked out any better.
“I’m playing with Duncs and I feel comfortable the whole time,” Leddy said. “He’s such a great player and he makes everyone who plays with him better, and I definitely think he’s done that for me.”
Quenneville rarely misses an opportunity to praise what Leddy is doing now and speak of the potential he has to be a top-end defenseman for a lot of years. He certainly likes the results produced by the Keith-Leddy pairing.
“I think they’re comparable,” Quenneville said. “Their patience and poise with the puck, they defend well and turn into the play quick. They eliminate the time and space in the recognition of opportunities. They close out fast and are quick to counter off those turnovers.
“They feed off each other with the puck, getting through the neutral zone and getting out of our end. They’re a threat and progressing on the offensive side of things, but their defensive play has been rock solid.”
Keith has turned his game up a notch after an uneven first half. Keith was minus-9 after the Dec. 13 loss at Colorado, but in 13 games since the all-star break he is plus-6, with the last 10 with Leddy.
Leddy’s average is now up to 15 minutes a night. He played more than 18 minutes in Monday’s win at Minnesota after getting 23 minutes against Phoenix on Sunday.
“He’s absorbing quality minutes and him and Dunc seem to be forming a nice solid pair for us,” Quenneville said. “Nick is getting better defensively, seeing situations. He’s very composed for a young kid and Dunc helps him along the way as well.”