\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJul 7, 2026<\/p>\n
Like many\u00a0NHL\u00a0players, Cody McLeod\u2019s\u00a0path took him through\u00a0the AHL.\u00a0McLeod, who was\u00a0more likely to make his way on to the score sheet with penalty minutes than with points,\u00a0still managed to play 775 NHL games across 12 seasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to\u00a0compete,\u201d said McLeod. \u201cMy numbers offensively were never great, but I’d like to think that I played the game hard\u00a0and honest and stuck up for my teammates.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sticking up for teammates was\u00a0McLeod\u2019s\u00a0calling card.\u00a0As his professional career wound down, the Iowa Wild signed him not only to protect young players,\u00a0but also\u00a0to help\u00a0them grow.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAt first, I thought it\u00a0was just going to be one year,\u201d said McLeod.\u00a0\u201cI loved\u00a0helping young\u00a0guys develop\u00a0and mentoring other players.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
While McLeod was never explicitly asked to serve\u00a0as extension of\u00a0the Minnesota Wild\u2019s\u00a0player development staff, he\u00a0did\u00a0mention his interest in the field to Brad\u00a0Bombardir (Minnesota\u2019s Senior\u00a0Director of Player Development).\u00a0McLeod went on to play\u00a0three seasons in total, eventually\u00a0serving as\u00a0captain\u00a0in 2021-22.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u00a0always knew I\u00a0wanted to stay in the game\u00a0in\u00a0some capacity,\u201d said McLeod.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cAs an older guy,\u00a0I looked\u00a0back and\u00a0remembered some of the older players who\u00a0showed me the ropes. I realized\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0what I wanted to do, and I got the opportunity.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
After retiring, McLeod\u00a0joined\u00a0the Minnesota Wild\u00a0as player development coach, a role that carries many responsibilities\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best part of the job is\u00a0that\u00a0you’re still around the game,\u201d said McLeod.\u00a0\u201cYou’re still\u00a0working with the guys\u00a0and\u00a0traveling quite a bit.\u00a0You get to\u00a0seeing different arenas\u00a0and\u00a0leagues, whether\u00a0it’s\u00a0college, junior,\u00a0or\u00a0professional hockey.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
While\u00a0McLeod says he has enjoyed the transition and Minnesota\u2019s development group, the new position\u00a0also\u00a0came with challenges.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to get\u00a0used to booking\u00a0my\u00a0travel,\u201d said McLeod \u201cAll the flights and car rentals, going to places that\u00a0I’ve\u00a0never\u00a0been, which is part of the excitement, too.\u00a0Another\u00a0difficulty was getting to\u00a0learn\u00a0the computer.\u00a0I\u00a0hadn\u2019t\u00a0really done too much of that\u00a0while playing, but\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0getting better at it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Minnesota\u2019s development staff travels\u00a0frequently\u00a0out of necessity. Prospects are\u00a0located\u00a0around\u00a0North America\u00a0& Europe, and the\u00a0relationship\u00a0between team and player\u00a0begins\u00a0at the draft.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u00a0get right after it,\u201d said McLeod.\u00a0\u201cWe\u00a0hold\u00a0our development camp right after the draft. Whether they come to camp in Minnesota or\u00a0play in\u00a0junior\u00a0or\u00a0college,\u00a0we’re\u00a0boots\u00a0on the\u00a0ground.\u00a0We’re\u00a0watching their\u00a0games, sitting\u00a0down with them,\u00a0and\u00a0going\u00a0over what their coach is preaching to them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The development staff\u00a0works\u00a0to align with each player\u2019s coach to make sure a prospect hears a consistent message.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t want to overload them with information,\u201d said McLeod. \u201cAt the same time, you want them to be prepared to play in Minnesota and Iowa when the time comes. The coaches we work with have been great in that regard.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Every prospect\u2019s\u00a0ultimate goal\u00a0is to reach the\u00a0NHL, and team staff frequently\u00a0says\u00a0that the\u00a0road to Minnesota goes through Des Moines.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI love Des Moines,\u201d said McLeod. \u201cIt’s\u00a0a great American\u00a0Hockey\u00a0League city and they treat the players\u00a0and staff\u00a0awesome.\u00a0It’s\u00a0kind of a\u00a0hidden gem. When\u00a0you think of Iowa,\u00a0you\u00a0just think of cold winters or whatever it may be, but\u00a0it’s\u00a0a great place\u00a0to play and\u00a0they’ve\u00a0had a good\u00a0track record\u00a0of producing\u00a0NHL\u00a0players.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before and after arriving in Iowa, prospects hear a consistent message.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0one that McLeod embodied during his playing days and continues to communicate in his current role.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the top things we\u00a0preach to our guys is\u00a0to\u00a0compete,\u201d said McLeod.\u00a0\u201cEvery player in the NHL competes.\u00a0Whether\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0a first\u00a0line\u00a0or a\u00a0fourth line\u00a0player,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0the same message. Some nights you might not have\u00a0your best stuff, but if you compete,\u00a0you’re\u00a0going to make an impact on the game.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jul 7, 2026 Like many\u00a0NHL\u00a0players, Cody McLeod\u2019s\u00a0path took him through\u00a0the AHL.\u00a0McLeod, who was\u00a0more likely to make his way…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":617090,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5118],"tags":[401,8687,8559,1928,5,8558,5002,161,38,5280,4,43,162],"class_list":["post-617089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-minnesota-wild","tag-ahl","tag-cody","tag-des-moines","tag-entertainment","tag-hockey","tag-iowa","tag-mcleod","tag-minnesota","tag-minnesota-wild","tag-minnesotawild","tag-nhl","tag-sports","tag-wild"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116879779645594622","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=617089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617089\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/617090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=617089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=617089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=617089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}