2008 Final Grade: B-
2007 Grade: INC
Links:
{{leopold}} (hockey-reference page)
2008 ITCS (aka highly unofficial) Leopold game log
Season Stats: 43gp 5g 8a 13pt +5
Minutes: 687.4 (7th). EV 13:52, PP 1:25, PK :43 ATOI 15:29
1st Half: 14gp 3g 1a 4pt +2
2nd Half: 29gp 2g 7a 9pt +3
Playoffs: 7gp 0g 3a 3pt
Best Month: 7gp 2g 3a 5pt +2
Linemates: Hannan (21), Salei (7), Cumiskey (4), Sauer (3), Clark (2), Skrastins (1)
Season: The 5 goals scored by Leopold were the 2nd highest season total of his career.
Report: All Leoprone jokes aside, this was an interesting season for Jordan Leopold. It started off terribly; Leopold was a turnover machine in the first few games of the season. And when he wasn't turning the puck over, he was taking stupid penalties: 6 of his 10 penalties on the season came within his first 6 games. I don't really know why, but in those first few games he looked completely lost on the ice. Then he went down with a wrist injury (one of 10 injuries he's suffered in the last two years) and missed 21 games. When he returned, he looked much better. Well, first he got injured again, but after he returned from that injury he looked much better. He had 4 points and was +4 in an 8-game stretch from December 29th through January 13th and in general was solid the rest of the way in his own end. Isn't a big hitter or a shot blocker (Cumiskey is the only guy with lower number of hits per game and shots per game). He was mostly used at even strength, but also had some PP time in there. Personally, I'd like to see him get a bit more PP ice time. 14 of his 22 career goals have come on the PP and he's got a 12.9% shooting percentage in his two years in Colorado. But he needs to shoot more - he averaged less than a shot a game this year.
Fast Fact: Leopold's longest consecutive game streak as an Av: 19 games. His second longest? 10 games.
2007-2008 Salary (and Cap Number): $1,500,000 ($1,500,000)
2008-2009 Status: Leopold is signed for one more season at $1,500,000
Outlook: When we traded Alex Tanguay for Leopold two years ago, I think many of us were thinking we'd acquired a solid top 4 defenseman, and possibly even more. Leopold has played more like a 5th or 6th d-man. There's certainly nothing wrong with that - it's just not quite what we were expecting. He lost his starting job to Jeff Finger towards the end of last season. With Finger and Kurt Sauer gone, he should be a starter again...but might get some pressure for ice time from guys like Kyle Cumiskey. Leopold has a cap-friendly contract and is certainly a serviceable defenseman to have around. But at this point he's more a depth player than a core player, and that's just a tad disappointing.<-->