Well, the first piece has fallen. The Avalanche traded a forward, but his name wasn’t Gabriel Landeskog or Matt Duchene, as was heavily speculated by the media. It was Cody McLeod—the longest-serving player in Burgundy & Blue.
The undrafted McLeod worked his way up from an AHL contract in 2004-05, playing 149 games for the Lowell Lock Monsters (and their ECHL affiliate San Diego Gulls), the Albany River Rats and eventually the Lake Erie Monsters before getting a shot with the Colorado Avalanche. He has been in regular rotation with the team since the 2007-08 season, a career that has spanned parts of ten seasons and 659 games.