Colorado Avalanche: Why Don't Duchene and Landeskog Click

The Colorado Avalanche don’t seem to get the best out of Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog when they play on the same line.

Two of the Colorado Avalanche’s best players, center Matt Duchene and left wing Gabriel Landeskog, don’t play well together. That was the conclusion that Travis Yost of The Sports Network came up with recently.

Yost made some interesting observations backed up with analytics. Duchene’s percentage of 5-on-5 shots has declined steadily since 2013, from 29% to 22%. That stat means he’s gone from taking 29% of the shots when he’s on the ice to 22%.

Interestingly, Landeskog’s percentage of 5-on-5 shots has also dropped since 2013, from 28% to 20%. According to Yost, Duchene is Landeskog’s second most common linemate, and Landeskog is Duchene’s fourth over a four-season interval.

Another statistic Yost cites is that Landeskog has scored just two goals per 60 minutes when playing with Duchene. That’s lower than Jarome Iginla (2.7), Ryan O’Reilly (2.9), Nathan MacKinnon (2.5), Mikhail Grigorenko (3.5), Carl Soderberg (3.0) and pretty much every other player except Mikko Rantanen (1.7) and Matthew Nieto (1.5).

Yost cites another statistic. Over the last four seasons, the duo of Duchene and Landeskog has consistently taken a lower percentage of shots than when either player is paired with MacKinnon.

While all of these statistics are fascinating — and admittedly telling — Yost doesn’t do much to explain why. Here’s his theory:

“There might be a million things that can, in part, explain why Duchene and Landeskog have offensively degraded over time. But one of those reasons sure seems to be that neither really excels when playing with the other. And the increased deference in both players has created situations where Colorado struggles to score when they are on the ice.”

So, the theory is that neither excels when playing with the other. Thanks to the stats, that’s actually fact, not theory. Let’s explore a couple theories on our own.

Lack of Chemistry

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The big intangible that always comes to the forefront is chemistry. Boy, analytics proponents would love to come up with a way of measuring chemistry. But though they might be able to show two players seem to lack chemistry, as Yost did, they can’t explain why.

I’m not going to say I have the exact answer, but I’m going to put forth my observations. The first is this — Gabriel Landeskog seems extraordinarily easy to get along with. He’s a charismatic and charming young man, and I’ve never seen any evidence of the dark side that sometimes counters the light.

Yes, he plays hard. And yes, I’ve seen him play a little dirty. But that’s always against opponents. There was that incident with Steve Downie at training camp four years ago. The two got feisty and nearly came to blows. Landeskog tripped him, and Downie responded with a massive hit. Downie got traded as a result.

Anyway, that’s the exception, not the rule. Landeskog is the captain for a reason — he’s a natural born leader.

Now, I’m definitely not going to say Duchene is the opposite. Rather, I’ve always seen him as a very intense young man who focuses internally more than externally. That’s evident in his pre-game ritual of sitting on the bench alone and meditating on the ice.

However, Duchene has leadership qualities, too. Listen to his pressers, and he’s all about dishing out the credit to others. (Read an example.)

Plus, while Duchene and Landeskog might not be best buddies, their dogs (and presumably significant others) hang out a lot. That’s put the two young men together a fair amount.

So, I would say personal chemistry plays a small part, if any, in why Duchene and Landeskog don’t perform well together.

Differing Playing Styles

You don’t want all of one type of player to comprise your top line. However, playing styles do have to mesh at least somewhat.

Matt Duchene is known for his speed, his agility on his skates, and his stick handling. He can make some of the prettiest plays in the NHL. While he takes his licks well, he’s not known for being a physical player. And though his defense has improved over his career, no one’s going to accuse him of being a two-way forward.

Gabriel Landeskog is all power forward. He likes to go all Viking on the ice, parking himself in front of the net and just gritting it out. You see that in his skating and in his stick handling — both are elite, but neither relies on finesse. And, yeah, he’s all kind of physical.

I think we have something here. Except for both being top-six forwards, the two don’t mesh in playing style. Duchene likes to skate coast to coast and make pretty plays around the net. Landeskog likes to tough it out. They probably have a hard time finding each other on the ice.

Here’s an example from each player, the exact same kind of goal (short handed) from the exact same game (vs the Chicago Blackhawks).

Duchene’s finesse:

Landeskog’s perserverance:

Another case in point — look at how both of them do better with MacKinnon. He’s a perfect blend of both their styles. He’s fleet on skates and a pretty puck handler. But he’s got a mean streak — let’s call it his Irish temper. It makes sense why he’d mesh with either style of hockey.

So, what’s the answer? Honestly, my first post here at Mile High Sticking was how the Colorado Avalanche have to find an adequate winger for Matt Duchene, and I might be able to say the same thing today.

Landeskog has found chemistry with MacKinnon and Rantanen. Duchene lost his best partners in O’Reilly and Stastny, both of whom complemented his style. It’s a pity Mikhail Grigorenko didn’t work out.

You know what might just work? Nail Yakupov and Tyson Jost with Matt Duchene. That would be one speedy, talented line with elite skills. But, yeah, the Duchene-Landeskog tandem probably just isn’t right for the Colorado Avalanche.

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