(CBS) Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville told the Boers and Bernstein Show that he’d have “loved to have found out” if recently traded defenseman Nick Leddy could’ve blossomed into a bigger role with his team, but given the circumstances, Chicago had little option but to deal him to the New York Islanders.

The Blackhawks had to move someone to get under the salary cap before Thursday’s season opener, and Leddy was a trade chip with value who didn’t break up any of the team’s core. Chicago received three prospects in return.

Leddy was Chicago’s fifth defenseman, behind the top pairing of Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook and the second pairing of Niklas Hjalmarsson and Johnny Oduya.

“In Nick’s case, he didn’t get a great opportunity (here),” Quenneville said in an interview Tuesday afternoon on 670 The Score. “We had four defensemen in front of him that all played quality minutes, and Nick didn’t get a lot of that time.

“He’s going to get a much better opportunity on the Islanders — when I say that, (I mean) more quality ice time and a chance for him to develop both offensively and defensively. I wish him well, but it’s part of our game. We’ve seen some really good players leave here.

“We’d loved to have found out how he would’ve been playing against other teams’ top lines, against better lines … Hopefully he takes advantage of a better situation where he has a chance to play more quality minutes.”

Quenneville addressed a variety of topics in his interview, including what Teuvo Teravainen has to do to work his way from Rockford to Chicago and why he likes the signing of Daniel Carcillo despite our Dan Bernstein pointing out that Carcillo “usually loses fights anyways.”

“We still think he’s got game,” Quenneville said of Carcillo.

Listen below.