Colorado Avalanche Rumors: Analyzing Gabe Landeskog Nick Leddy Trade

The Colorado Avalanche have been the subject of numerous rumors since their collapse in late November. One of the recent rumors involves Gabe Landeskog and Nick Leddy — time for analysis.

When you’re the worst team in the league — like the Colorado Avalanche are — rumors are bound to be pretty constant.

The most recent rumor in Avalanche territory involves Gabe Landeskog and a possible suitor in the New York Islanders.

The Islanders have made no bones about needing a winger to play with John Tavares. It seems like they may also be willing to deal from the ranks of their defensemen in order to bring Tavares help.

Obviously nothing substantial has been confirmed between either team, so this is mostly just a rumor. Nonetheless, both teams would seem to be a good fit for one another in a trade.

You see, Tavares will become a UFA after the 2017-18 season, and the Islanders really want to keep him around.

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If the Islanders want to keep a player of Tavares’ caliber — and they do, trust me — then they need to orchestrate a trade that brings him help on the wing.

Meanwhile, the Colorado Avalanche are the worst defensive team in the league, and have a wealth of forward prospects on the rise. Which is why Gabe Landeskog and Matt Duchene are openly being shopped — amongst others.

However, is a trade between the Islanders and Avalanche a good idea, especially if it involves the players above?

Should the Avs Trade for Nick Leddy?

Nick Leddy is a good defenseman — he moves the puck well, he can skate, and he gets the puck through to the net. He’s also still young, at 25 years of age — though he’s nearing his 26th birthday.

Leddy is also a left-shooting defenseman, which is an area of particular weakness for the Avs right now.

However, he is not really billed as the most defensively sound defenseman. He’s more of a puck mover.

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Granted, he had a career year last year for points, and he is on pace to set a new career high this year. He is also on pace to set a new career high for goals this season. Nonetheless, Leddy does not have the best Corsi-for percentage, and he’s not the most defensively sound defenseman.

Furthermore, do the Avs really need another puck-moving defenseman when they have Tyson Barrie? Do they really need another defenseman that isn’t the most reliable positionally?

Sure, they need a defenseman who can move the puck up the ice and get it to our forwards, but it might be risky to take a chance on Leddy. He brings much of the same shortcomings that most of the Avs defense already enlists.

Should the Avs Really Trade Gabe Landeskog?

This is obviously another factor in the trade. The Avs have a wealth of centers, but they are pretty weak on the wing, both at the NHL level, and at the prospect level. So, trading Gabe Landeskog becomes a liability for the Avs.

Granted, trading anyone in the top six is currently a liability for the Avs, but this season is busted anyway. So, any trade they make has to make sense for the future of this team.

They have a lot of cap space this summer, and will get another high draft pick as well. Furthermore, their prospects should take the next step in their development and provide the Avs with more options in next year’s training camp.

Which is why it might make more sense to trade Matt Duchene instead of Gabe Landeskog. The Islanders should have interest in Duchene as well, seeing as he can play both wing and center.

Nonetheless, the Islanders don’t have a wealth of depth at the defensive position, so getting them to make a trade might also be difficult.

Conclusion

I don’t think the Avs should make this trade if it becomes available. Nick Leddy is not the type of presence the Avs need on the blueline.

They need more a steady presence on the blue, and Leddy is just not that guy. He is young, he is certainly a top-four defenseman, and he can move the puck well. However, his defensive acumen is not at the level that it needs to be for the Avs to make this trade.

He would bring much of the same sort of positional questions that already plague the Avs’ defense. And, I’m not sure that he really fits the mold of what the Avs need on the blue for the future.

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So, I’m going to put the kibosh on this one. Both teams are certainly good partners for a trade, but Nick Leddy would not be worth the hole that trading either Duchene or Landeskog would present the Avs with.

If they’re going to dish a top-six forward, the defenseman the Avs get in return needs to be defensively sound.

Hopefully this trade does not happen, but hopefully the Avs are able to find a more suitable partner.