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Crisis Averted: Avs Re-sign Gabriel Landeskog & Bulk Up Blue line |
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News of a possible contract extension for Gabriel Landeskog began to trickle out yesterday afternoon with a report from insider Elliotte Friedman indicating that a deal between the Avs and Landeskog was close with both sides continuing to work on a resolution before the free agent window opened on Wednesday.
That original tabled offer seemed more than fair considering the flat cap situation and a future Nate Mackinnon deal. It was at that moment that a deal felt imminent.
Well, fast forward several hours later and pen was put to paper. The Avs and their captain had a new deal. Crisis averted.
Up until today if felt as though Landeskog would at least test the market before circling back to the only team he's played for. Colorado had their hands tied until they worked out the details of the Cale Makar extension. It was all downhill from there.
The final deal came in at the max 8 years at the original $7 million figure per. In the end, Landeskog got his term and a bump in pay. It's a great deal for both sides. Sakic and the Avs can go into free agency with clear eyes and a full heart.
Thankfully both sides are happy and Colorado can turn their attention to the goaltending situation and possibly replacing Vezina finalist Philipp Grubauer.
Grubauer will most certainly garner a lot of interest and he may become one of the big name UFA's that doesn't return next season. They have the money to bring him back but will they? There will plenty of interest and plenty of money from other teams around the league for a goalie of Grubauer's caliber.
Stay tuned.
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Prior to re-signing the captain, the Colorado Avalanche addressed an area of need by trading for a big bruising defender in Kurtis Macdermid from the Seattle Kraken for a 2023 fourth-round draft pick on Tuesday.
Macdermid was plucked from the Kings in last weeks expansion draft and now he's expected to fill the void left by the departure of Ryan Graves. Colorado dealt Graves to NJ instead of losing him to Seattle. Now they've used Seattle to replace Graves' size and grit. That's hockey's version of the circle of life.
Macdermid is 6-foot-5 and 233 pounds and can play a physical shutdown role for the Avs. I saw a lot of people poo pooing this deal on social media but I think it's an excellent depth move. If the last few Stanley Cup winners have taught us anything it's that physical toughness is paramount to overall team success.
The 27-year-old played 28 games with Los Angeles last season and has one year left on his current deal with a cap hit of $875K.
Thanks for reading,
Steve
Colorado Avalanche Blogger • 
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