Jordan Leopold

Jordan Leopold is an American defenseman on the Buffalo Sabres.

Leopold was drafted by Anaheim in 1999, and went on to play 4 seasons with the University of Minnesota, where he won the Hobey Baker Award in 2002, as the NCAA’s most outstanding player. Leopold broke into the NHL with the Calgary Flames in 2002, where he spent 3 seasons and recorded his best NHL season in ’03-04, scoring 33 points. Leopold was traded to Colorado in 2006, but has only played in 109 games over the last 3 seasons, due to injuries. The first time he played a full season with the Avalanche, in 2008-09, Leopold scored 20 points during 64 games, but was traded to Calgary at the trade deadline. He would then play the remainder of the season with the Flames, recording a goal and four points. As an interesting fact, Leopold had played in every game with the Avalanche, and went on to play in every game for the Flames, leaving him with a total of 83 games played, despite the fact that a normal season is only 82 games long. In the 2009 offseason, since he was due to become a free agent anyway, Leopold was part of the package deal that brought Jay Bouwmeester to Calgary, and was signed to a one year deal by the Panthers. He played just 61 games for the Panthers before being traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins at the trade deadline. He had 4 goals and 8 points in the last 20 games of the regular season, but was knocked out of the playoffs after a heavy hit from Ottawa defenseman Andy Sutton during the first round of the postseason. As a UFA at the end of the 2010 season, he was free to entertain offers from other teams, and the Sabres were quick to add him to their lineup for the 2010-11 season.

Leopold has played for Team USA at 7 different international competitions, including junior championships, the World Championships and the 2006 Winter Olympics.