Will or won’t the Colorado Avalanche swing for more pieces at the 2025 trade deadline, which is on March 7? One way or another, we will have some sort of idea, I think, if Gabriel Landeskog will return to the team this season. Also, depending on the term/terms of the player(s) they trade for, it would be possible that they don’t really have an idea and are just preparing for the worst.
The worst scenario in the eyes of the team is that Landeskog doesn’t return at all. They have spent two and a half years trying to get Landeskog ready to get back out there after a very awful knee injury. At what point do they move on from hoping that Landeskog will actually return?
I know that fans are sticking by Landeskog’s side. I completely understand that aspect of the situation. However, not only does the team nor himself know when or even if he can make a return to the ice for actual games, he’s not getting any younger. While the rest of his body is fresh, we’ve heard plenty about “hockey condition.” It takes time to get into shape and be able to take hits and cut on a dime.
The roster has many new faces since Landeskog last played. While Nathan MacKinnon is still the heart and soul of the forward group, Landeskog hasn’t played alongside guys such as Miles Wood and Jonathan Drouin.Mikko Rantanen was shipped off to Carolina, but could end up in the central division.
I don’t doubt that Landeskog and the team truly are determined to make it work, but the clock doesn’t stop for anybody.
The Colorado Avalanche and their current cap space situation
Colorado has just over $4.7 million in cap space to play with right now. That’s enough to keep this roster going with a couple of moves here and there, but I think that they will essentially have more if a trade does go down. I would think that, as many have speculated, Casey Mittelstadt and his $5.75 million cap hit could be shipped off somewhere and the team should look for cheaper fill-ins.
Thankfully, the team took care of one of their biggest issues in the goaltending situation early on in the season. Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood have helped settle fans down because of their play compared to Alexandar Georgiev and Justus Annunen’s.
The Avalanche are in a unique situation to be in as they have had to maneuver around the salary cap because of all of their injuries this season. Hopefully they will be able to find a player or two that can fit their system, cost hardly any money, and potentially fit in for years to come. We’ll have a better idea as the trade deadline approaches.