The list of teams the New York Islanders were competing with in the Nick Leddy and Johnny Boychuk cap casualty sweepstakes continues to trickle out. Previously Winnipeg was mentioned for Leddy and Florida was mentioned for both.
Now add a few more teams to the list believed to have pursued a deal for the ex-Blackhawks blueliner. From item 14 in Elliotte Friedman's Oct. 8 30 Thoughts column:
Some execs were surprised at the Leddy deal from the Chicago perspective, because the Blackhawks asked for draft picks from other teams, not players. Bowman said he wanted assets that wouldn’t hurt his cap situation right now, but Pokka (acquired in the trade) makes sense because he is a talented defender and that is where the Blackhawks will have a need. (It’s believed Calgary, Colorado, San Jose and Winnipeg were among those interested in Leddy.)
"Among those interested" is of course a broad stroke -- we'll likely never know who made "serious" offers to escalate the asking price.
But it's pretty clear the two were in play for much of the summer, and on this occasion Isles GM Garth Snow won both of them.