Colorado Avalanche Rumors: Avoid Trade With Boston Bruins Involving Gabe Landeskog
By Ross Sellers
The Colorado Avalanche seemingly have to decide between trading two big names — Matt Duchene or Gabe Landeskog — and Landeskog is the name that needs to stay.
The question that everyone keeps coming to concerning the Colorado Avalanche is: should they trade Matt Duchene or Gabe Landeskog?
Really, should they trade either? Eh, the defensive prospects in the system are inspiring, but they’re not as inspiring as the skill the Avs could acquire by trading either Duchene or Landeskog. So, trading one or the other for some up-and-coming defensive talent is not a bad idea.
The reason this article has relevance at this point in time is because the Boston Bruins and Colorado Avalanche are apparently in the heat of some rather big trade conversation.
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The source says that Bruins’ GM Don Sweeney and Avs’ GM Joe Sakic spent most of the second period of the Bruins and Canadiens game talking.
These two teams are by no means unaccustomed to one another this season either. Only a couple months ago, the Avs and Bruins were linked with names including Landeskog and Bruins’ defenseman Brandon Carlo.
The trade apparently fell apart when Carlo was required in any trade involving Landeskog. Perhaps that trade is being rekindled though, and I’m here to say the Avs should avoid it at all costs.
The Colorado Avalanche Cannot Afford to Trade Wingers
The Colorado Avalanche currently have two top six wingers — Mikko Rantanen and Gabe Landeskog. Furthermore, they have no top six wingers coming up in their prospect ranks.
A.J. Greer is inspiring, and J.T. Compher has been known to play left wing in the past, but both project is reliable third line players. Sure, Cam Morrison has the potential to develop into a real good top six power forward on the left side, but he’s far from playing at the NHL level.
The point is, the Avs are already light on the wing, and will need to draft or sign that position this summer anyway. They can’t afford to trade from that position because it is not a position of strength. In fact, they are probably stronger in their defensive ranks than they are on the wing.
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They have young prospects like Chris Bigras, Nikita Zadorov, Nicolas Meloche, and even Will Butcher on the blue. They could even dangle Tyson Barrie as a tradable asset. But they simply cannot afford to trade Gabe Landeskog.
Even if it weren’t for the lack of depth they have on the wing, Landeskog cannot be considered for trade because of his leadership. Sure, he makes some bad decisions on the ice sometimes, but trading away the captain, especially midseason, could be irreparably detrimental to the Avs.
I get it, Brandon Carlo is a can’t miss prospect, but trading Landeskog to acquire him would be a huge mistake for the Avalanche.
Conclusion
Luckily, the Avs are also particularly strong at their center position, and could dangle Matt Duchene.
Unfortunately, Duchy is the No. 2 face-off man in the entire NHL, and that is a talent teams don’t trade away hastily. I mean, he wins nearly 62 percent of the face-offs he takes, and that is just ridiculous.
Nathan MacKinnon is at a respectable 51.2 percent in the dot — at 46th in the league — and he’ll only get better, but still.
As much as I want to say the Avs cannot trade away Duchene or Landeskog, a rebuild needs to happen. After the type of season the Colorado Avalanche are having, Joe Sakic cannot afford to stand pat at the deadline, or even this summer.
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So, if it comes down to trading away a big name, then Matt Duchene needs to be the guy because the Avs would lose too much in Landeskog.
Landy is the best Corsi-for player on the team, he leads the team in takeaways, and he leads all forwards in ice time for the Avalanche*. His intangibles alone make him invaluable, and he will return to form. Said form being a consistent 20 goal potter, and 60 point getter.
*Stats taken from hockey-reference.com
It’s going to be tough to see either player leave the Colorado Avalanche, but they cannot afford to let Landeskog go.