Family circus: Leopold trade reveals another side of NHL deals
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- While seeing his children off to school for the first time in a long time, Jordan Leopold heard Carson Daly reciting some familiar lines on "The Today Show" Tuesday morning.
My name is jordyn Leopold. My dad is Jordan Leopold, one of the Columbus Blue Jackets Defenseman.
Leopold, his wife Jamie and four kids, ages 1-10, try to live as nondescript a life as possible. The Golden Valley native still keeps his home in the Twin Cities, still spends the offseason here, has trained with several Wild players before heading off to camp for whichever team is paying him that year.
They're a family that's about family. He and his wife are working on a wedding event center in Brooklyn Park. Their son plays hockey. Leopold's father spends a lot of time at the house while Jordan's away during the season.
"We're quite humble people," Jordan Leopold said.
But given the circumstances surrounding his deadline trade from Columbus to Minnesota for Justin Falk and a 2015 fifth-round draft pick Monday, Leopold's oldest daughter Jordyn -- the now-famous author of a now-famous letter pleading with Wild brass to acquire her father -- can't avoid the limelight.
Since the piece went viral, "theletter" hashtag and international television and web attention included, several networks have reached out to the Leopold family about interviewing Jordyn. Instantaneously, the narrative became as much about a family's bond with its patriarch as about Leopold coming home to play in front of his relatives, friends and familiar fans for the playoff push.
Since winning the 2001-02 national championship (at the Xcel Energy Center, no less) and Hobey Baker award at the University of Minnesota, Robbinsdale Armstrong High School alum Jordan Leopold has played for seven different NHL teams, including Calgary twice. He's a consummate rental player, having been traded at four different deadlines.
His is the life of most professional sports journeymen, where family time comes at a premium in exchange for a seven or eight-figure salary.
Well my Dad is very lonly without his family. We are living in Minnesota right now and I am lost without my dad and so is my MoM, My 2 sisters, and my brother. My dad is on a team with young guys and is very lonly and is not playing because the jackets got him because they needed a D man.
"It's a good story," said Jordan Leopold, who has 76 goals, 161 assists and 285 penalty minutes in 677 games, "and I'm happy the media spun it the right way, because really, in the end, this business is hard on families. It really is. Myself, with the experiences I've had over the years, it's been crazy."
Jordyn wrote the letter in January after learning about persuasive writing in English class. Mom posted it on Facebook and later passed it along to Wild radio affiliate KFAN 100.3. Morning radio host Paul Allen read it live on the air, and the tweets and retweets followed moments later.
Instant cute. A headline-stealer on a day that saw 24 player-and-asset swaps across the league.
"We're on the inside," Wild head coach Mike Yeo said. "We have families. We know the players' families. Their kids are in the locker room. This time of the year, it's usually more players going everywhere. It's kind of a situation where dads are going to be leaving their kids. They don't want to relocate their family for maybe a short period of time, so I thought it was just a great story. Obviously, we benefit a lot from getting a great player, a great person, but there's other parts of the game, too."
Said Minnesota native Zach Parise, who signed a 13-year, $98 million deal with his hometown team before the 2013 season: "I think it was this morning I didn't see it till. But it's a great story. It's awesome. It's just a nice, kind of heartwarming story to hear. Fortunately for them and for their family, it worked out."
It has been since November and we can not take it any more. Well to get to the point the wild have not been winning games and you lovly Coaches are most likely mad about that ...
The Leopolds never sent the letter to Minnesota's front office. But thanks to social media, it came across annual deadline shark and Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher's desk, anyway.
"After I saw it," said Fletcher, "there was a lot of pressure to close the deal, that's for sure."
With an injury-riddled defensive corps that got more bad news Tuesday -- Marco Scandella is out at least another week with an undisclosed ailment -- Minnesota needed a left-shot defenseman. At one point, Leopold was the ninth blue-liner in Columbus' arsenal, so a swap for a minor leaguer in Falk and a future pick made sense.
But Jordyn's words became the latest reminder professional athletes are more than just commodities.
"The kids do suffer. Our wives definitely live a tough life at times," said Jordan Leopold, who will have earned $2.25 million for this season and close to $20 million for his career. "We aren't asking for any sympathy. I can tell you that. It comes with the territory, and we signed up for this. I chose to have kids at a young age. My career is not going to last forever. There's more important things than hockey, and the kids rank up there."
Said Yeo: "You want people to come here and get invested into the group and really want to play for something bigger than just for money or for a new contract. For him, I know that absolutely, 100 percent, he's playing for something bigger."
Jordan will start doing that Tuesday night against Ottawa, donning a No. 33 home sweater for a team he's always followed closely that's currently in the Western Conference's second wild-card playoff spot. Jordyn, her siblings, Jamie and countless acquaintances will be on hand in the same arena Leopold hoisted the 2002 NCAA title trophy.
"Anybody that knows me and has my number has contacted me," Leopold said.
Jordyn, who turns 11 next month, might not make good on any of those TV requests. Dad asked if she wanted to speak to reporters after Tuesday's morning skate, but she declined.
"My daughter is very shy," Jordan Leopold said as tears welled up in his eyes. "But my kids picked me up at the airport last night with open arms, and it was special.
"I try not to get emotional, but it is."
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