Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Here in the doldrums of August, there isn’t much hockey news to go around. Luckily, the Colorado Avalanche provided their fans with some pretty serious, and positive news, announcing that they had agreed to an extension with Gabriel Landeskog.
The extension for the Colorado captain is for seven years and $39 million total. If Landeskog can get back to his rookie level and reach the superstar status that everyone in the Mile High City is expecting him to, then this deal has the potential to become a bargain.
The 2013 season wasn’t kind to Landeskog, who battled injury and inconsistency in his sophomore season. After taking home the Calder Trophy in 2011-12 as the league’s top rookie, Landeskog had only 17 points in his first year as captain of the Avs.
All signs point to a rebound for him heading into the new season, though. Towards the end of his rookie year, we saw him become more involved, contributing in nearly every phase of the game. He’s a strong two-way presence and a physical guy in the lineup, in addition to being a premier offensive talent.
His rookie season showed what we had already known when he was drafted, in that Landeskog was one of the most ready to make the jump immediately. He did that successfully, regardless of the results in his second season. What we saw during his rookie season is much closer to what the Avs will get out of him in 2013-14.
Completely healthy and with a hopefully improved team around him, Landeskog comes into the season with a fresh extension and the C on his chest. He’s the face of the franchise, as already proven by the captaincy last summer. This is an excellent deal for the Colorado Avalanche and really was a no brainer for the organization.
