Cody McLeod has goal, fight in Predators debut
DENVER — The first step of Cody McLeod's move to Nashville only required a shift to the visiting bench.
Traded by the Colorado Avalanche to the Predators on Friday, the forward debuted against his ex-team Saturday in Nashville's 3-2 win, factoring into his new team's third consecutive victory.
"It's kind of been a whirlwind the past few hours," said McLeod, who met his new teammates Saturday morning after a mechanical issue canceled their scheduled Friday flight to Denver. "I'm pumped to be here."
Why would the Predators want McLeod, who leads the league in fighting majors since the start of last season?
McLeod had been on the Predators’ radar “for a long time,” general manager David Poile said, and the timing was finally right Friday. The league-worst Avalanche were prepared to start deconstructing their roster, and the Predators felt they could use a physical veteran with bite after ridding their lineup of similar players during the offseason in order to become younger and faster.
The 32-year-old had seen his role greatly diminish before the trade. His alternate captaincy stripped at the start of the season, McLeod's ice time had also been slashed in half, with his 5:52 average the lowest among 534 skaters who had appeared in at least 25 games this season as of Saturday.
Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic approached McLeod, who was Colorado's longest-tenured player at 659 games, last week to inform him of Nashville's interest in him and to see if it was reciprocated. McLeod agreed, welcoming the opportunity to join a team involved in a playoff chase.
"Definitely jumped on it when the chance approached, and it worked out great," McLeod said.
The same can probably be said of his Predators debut. McLeod received a season-high 10:12 of ice time, including 2:46 on the power play after having seven total seconds in his 28 games with the Avalanche this season. He also scored the first of Nashville's three unanswered goals by powering to the net, sparking the team's comeback from a 2-0 second-period deficit.
Former Avalanche teammate Jarome Iginla granted McLeod's request for a fight — McLeod's ninth this season and 21st in the past two seasons — and jumpstarted the rush that led to Predators captain Mike Fisher's game-tying goal by creating a turnover with a hit along the boards in the defensive zone.
"His role's probably going to be what it has been for the past eight years or 10 years that he's been here," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. "He's just a hard-working guy that hits and fights and goes to the net. That's a real good snapshot of who he is. I think you saw it today.
"It's always difficult when you come to a new team and new surroundings, so for him to have a big game like that, I'm happy for him. It's got to be special."
Reach Adam Vingan on Twitter @AdamVingan.
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