Rumor: Landeskog could have played his last game with the Avs
The Colorado Avalanche were picked to go all the way to the Stanley Cup finals by many fans, but they were knocked out in the second round by the Vegas Golden Knights. As a result, the hard questions of who will be re-signed and who will test the free agency waters arose sooner than planned, but no one expected captain Gabriel Landeskog to be interested in the latter.
It didn't stop Denver Post reporters Joe Haggerty and Mike Chambers from reporting that Landeskog had played his final game with the Avalanche.
For the 2021-22 NHL season, Colorado has $61.7 million in salary cap space, which includes unrestricted free agents Landeskog, elite goalkeeper Philipp Grubauer, and top winger Brandon Saad, as well as youthful phenom defenseman Cale Makar, who becomes a restricted free agent to re-sign.
With Makar set to receive a sizable increase and Grubauer set to earn $5 million per year, the Avalanche are bound to run out of cash. According to Chambers, the Avalanche may make Landeskog a take-it-or-leave-it offer of roughly $5 million per year, but not for the length of time he prefers. Landeskog is expected to ask for roughly $8 million per year.
The Avalanche captain recorded 20 goals, 32 assists for 52 points. This season, Landeskog made $6.5 million and signed a seven-year, $39 million deal in 2014.
Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman also admitted it won't be a relaxed offseason for GM Joe Sakic. However, in his latest 31 Thoughts column, Friedman did not make a prediction on whether Landeskog would or would not return:
�'No vacation for the Avalanche, with plenty of decisions to make. There's a lengthy list of unrestricteds (including captain Gabriel Landeskog and Vezina Trophy finalist Philipp Grubauer), Nazem Kadri's future to figure out, and planning for Nathan MacKinnon's massive payday � two years from now. The linchpin to everything is Cale Makar's next contract. There's some evidence the two sides are going to try for term. That could be a massive number for the Norris finalist � and the only defenceman to average a point per game.''
�'Colorado wasn't crazy about trading Ian Cole, but did it to make room for Bowen Byram. Minus Cole and the injured Erik Johnson, they missed some edge on the blue line. But, before they can address several things, they've got to know what space (and expansion maneuvering) is available.»
Credit: HockeyFeed
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