The situation surrounding Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog continues to bring intrigue to the NHL offseason, with the expansion draft and free agency rapidly approaching. Landeskog and the Avalanche were said to be far apart in contract talks recently, and Darren Dreger of TSN tweets this morning that there hasn’t been any movement.
Andy Strickland of Bally Sports Midwest tweets that the team’s last offer was in the $5-6MM range on an eight-year term, but that Landeskog is looking for much more than that. Strickland lists the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Vegas Golden Knights, Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Islanders and St. Louis Blues as teams that will show interest if Landeskog makes it to the open market.
There’s still time to work things out, and Landeskog could still return to Colorado after free agency opens, but there seems to be a sizable gap at the moment between what he believes he’ll get and what the Avalanche are willing to pay. The team must also save cap space for Cale Makar’s new deal and UFA goaltender Philipp Grubauer, if they intend to keep their core group together.
With protection lists submitted tomorrow and a transaction freeze coming into effect, the Avalanche will no longer have to worry about maneuvering for the expansion draft. At that point they will have just over ten days to negotiate with Landeskog before he gets to speak to the rest of the market. During that time, the Seattle Kraken will have a short window to negotiate with free agents, before the rest of the league is once again allowed to sign players on July 22. In this compressed offseason, timelines for managers are extremely tight, with sometimes only a few days to work out a deal. In Colorado, things do not appear to be progressing.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Seems like a “wait until after the expansion draft” type of deal, then they’ll probably get serious and make it work. I know they have a lot of upcoming RFA/UFA deals to make, as the article highlights a few, but what team doesn’t?
Could a team go all in on Makar if they wanted to and essentially price out Colorado?
I think he’s one of those guys you match the offer regardless and then sort the mess out afterwards.
I fail to see how Toronto, Tampa, or Las Vegas can manage to fit yet another high priced player into their current cap situations.
If everything remains as is, it’s not possible. But there are always contracts that can be moved to make room. Vegas was capped out last offseason when they signed Pietrangelo, and made it work by sending out I think it was Schmidt. Leafs could ship out Rielly and receive a decent return, same with Nylander, and fit in Landeskog. Admittedly, Landeskog is not what the team really needs. A legit number 1 D would be the better option (Hamilton perhaps). But Landeskog certainly would make the team better and the potential of signing him needs to at least be investigated.
agree but I think the other consideration might be a sign and trade for those teams so TB gets something back.
I do think if Gabe is looking for 7 million the leafs are out. he’s an upgrade over Hyman but not at likely an extra 2-3 years and 1-1.5 million more.
Landeskog actually is exactly what the leafs need. A guy who plays with heart, is in the trenches and can take on a leadership role.
That being said, they do still need a true shut down guy. Doesn’t necessarily need to be a #1 but someone who can play 22+ mins a night and be relied upon against top players.
To your first point: Come on you’ve got the Wayne Train…just 5-10 years too late.
That is true, Landeskog is for sure the kind of forward they could use. It’ll be interesting to see how this off-season plays out for both the Leafs and the Avs. I could see Rielly as a cap casualty to hopefully get back into round 1 of the draft.
Panthers with a first line of Barkov, Landeskog, and DuClair would be interesting.
Great fit for the Kings, although not excited about the length of the contract. Would still leave some money for a D and flexibility in the future.
Sakic quietly prepared the Avs to move on from Landeskog if he won’t take a team friendly deal last summer by trading for Brandon Saad.
Not the same player, but he can fill that role and free up the money the Avs need for Makar. soon McKinnon and to sort out their netminding situation.
MacKinnon is an absolute superstar, but with Sadd instead of Landeskog on his wing, his numbers may go down.
Sorry, I love the hype and excitement of possible signings for TML but I can’t and don’t see them seeking out a forward of his calibre and pay grade. Doesn’t make sense need wise it financially
He will be in colorado. Already freed up a little money by trading Graves. Expect Macdonald to take Graves spot in the lineup for much cheaper. Newhook will likely be a full time nhler, still on his ELC. I’m gonna guess that Donskoi gets taken by Seattle (or maybe compher), freeing up more space, and look for Obrien, O’Connor, and Kaut to get opportunities. Ranta too. The only way I can see him walking is if he’s still on the market and some team just knocks his socks off, which I can’t see happening.
He will be wearing the C for years to come in burgundy and blue.
If they shed either Donskoi or Compher, Colorado still has only $25 million in cap space and a bunch of roster slots to fill. Makar and Grubauer both will want — and be worth — north of $7 million apiece. The team has only five defensemen under contract, and two of them are Byram and McDonald. Saad isn’t going to get $6 million again, but he’ll get at least $4. The team needs a backup goalie, unless the Avs fans all think that after a year off Francouz will get the job done.
I can sure see that Colorado would love for Landeskog to settle for $5-6 million, but why should he? There are teams out there who can afford to give him $8-9 million, and would be pleased to do so. (Hell, if Boston moved on from Krejci, that’d be a snap.)
If you can’t see that happening, that’s wishful thinking talking.
Makar is probably going to get a bridge deal. Grubauer won’t get north of 7 or anywhere near it. At least not one anything more than a 2 year deal (see Sergei Bobrovski). You’re delusional. Franky is under contract, of course he will get a chance. Also, the teams that are happy to pay Landy big time money are also losing teams for the most part.
Again…
He will be wearing the C for years to come in burgundy and blue.
I do see a $8-9m/year contract coming for Landeskog. I just hope it doesn’t come from my team. Way too much money for a guy like him, but the open market is a funny thing in that way. Someone will give him that money.
Landeskog is a good player, but I’m not sure it would be wise for any team to sign him to a long term deal. Think they’ll regret that 3 or 4 years from now.