Mandatory Credit: Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

Gabriel Landeskog has decided to come back to North America after his 17 game stint with Djugarden in the Swedish Elite League. Landeskog, (according to Adrian Dater and some poorly translated European sources) is returning here for tax reasons. (Something about the amount of time he’s spent in Sweden this year would effect the amount he would pay in taxes.) Landeskog made sure to give his team one last strong performance before he left though. Djugarden won the game 3-0, and Landeskog was involved in all three goals. He assisted on the first two goals, and sealed the deal with an empty netter. He finishes his time in Eliteserien with six goals and eight assists in seventeen games. I’m not entirely sure where he will go from here (there are conflicting reports whether he intends to set up base in Kitchener or in Denver for the remainder of the lockout.) I hope he comes back to Denver personally (it would be comforting to know another Avs player was hanging around).

Ryan O’Byrne has apparently been working on his playmaking skills, as he has already scored a goal and two assists in two games for the Florida Everblades. I’m pretty excited that O’Byrne has gotten off to such a good start (I’m happy when any of our boys do well), and I hope that the Avalanche brass are paying attention.

Matt Duchene hasn’t played another game since I last wrote, but Paul Stastny has. EHC Red Bull Munchen lost their first game since Stastny’s arrival 4-1. Stastny did not contribute towards Munchen’s one goal, and he earned three different penalties during the game. (It seems that the whole game was undisciplined, with a total of 18 penalties.)

Unfortunately, Semyon Varlamov is injured. The information has finally been released, and it appears he has sustained a knee injury. Doctors are saying that it is minor, and hopefully the team is just being extra cautious and taking advantage of the fact they have three goaltenders who can compete at the KHL level. I still maintain my position that it is in Varlamov’s best interests to be playing this season-I’d rather have a goaltender who sustained a small injury during the lockout than one who didn’t play at all and is therefore rusty.

Mandatory Credit: Kevin Hoffman/US Presswire.

Evidently, O’Byrne has grown tired of playing coach, and wants to get back to simply playing again. On Friday, the Florida Everblades announced that he had signed a contract with them. The Everblades, a team in the EHCL, are the reigning Kelley Cup Champions. O’Byrne is expected to be in the lineup for tonight’s contest. I don’t blame O’Byrne for wanting to play. This was his contract year with the Avalanche, and I think he’s realized that he’ll need to show the what he has to offer as a player in some fashion during this year. The Avs have too many defensemen under contract as it is, and I’m hoping that this move will convince the team to re-sign him if the season is lost. O’Byrne might not score a lot of points, but he’s a solid defenseman, and one of the players who really helped the penalty kill this season (particularly during 5 on 3 situations).

Paul Stastny has had continued success in Germany, he earned his sixth point in five games yesterday. The team recruited him to try and win some more games and move up in the standings, and they’ve won four games with him thus far. Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog have each ended their tiny scoring slumps. Duchene earned a goal and two assists in a big Frolunda win over Skelleftea, and Landeskog has earned an assist in each of Djugarden’s last two games.

Strangely, Semyon Varlamov has not played or even dressed for the last four games. In an interview with the Eurolanche, he said that he was unable to comment on why he was not playing, and he said that “everything is great” when they asked about potential injuries. I’m not sure why a team would sit a goalie who has some of the best statistics in the league, and I don’t know much about the KHL’s transparency policy when it comes to sitting players. Either way, it’s a little worrying that Varlamov is now missing out on games in the KHL too.