Denver Post sports writer Corey Masisak opens up the Avs Mailbag periodically throughout the season. Pose an Avalanche- or NHL-related question for the Avs Mailbag.
I’m aware no one knows at this point, but I’m interested in your best guess: How many games do you think Landy will play next season, and how many points will he produce?
— thriller1, via Reddit
That has to be one of the biggest questions for the Avalanche when training camp begins: How much will captain Gabe Landeskog play after his dramatic comeback during the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs? Here’s what Avs general manager Chris MacFarland said about his captain on July 2:
“For the first time in many, many years, we are going into the offseason with the expectation that Gabe is going to not only play, but play consistently and be able to play well.”
There’s no reason to think Landeskog is just going to come back and play 82 games, or even try to. He did play almost every game in the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season, but he missed 59 games over the next two years while dealing with knee issues.
Even if the knee is good as new, the Avs will likely try to give him some nights off when there are back-to-back games. Given the Olympic break, there might be a few more of those than usual. There could be other minor issues that crop up as well. There are a lot of joints and muscles beyond his knee that haven’t been through the grind of an NHL schedule in three years.
The most important thing is for him to be as healthy as possible and not worn out in early April. Even if he only plays 20 regular-season games, if he’s available for the playoffs and plays as well as he did against Dallas, that’s all that matters.
The over-under should probably be around 55 games. If Landeskog can avoid other minor injuries, he might push 65-70. If he plays like he did against Dallas, Landeskog could produce at a per-82 game pace of 25 goals and 60 points.
He might not be able to play at quite that level every night in the regular season, but just being a solid second-line guy who helps drive play should be considered a huge success.
Do you guys think the Avs are done changing up the defense corps? If not, who do you think the Avs would target?
— Vivid_Walk_1405, via Reddit
Having four right-handed shots in the top six doesn’t seem ideal. There are a couple of intriguing lefties still on the free-agent market in Jon Merrill and Ryan Suter.
Adding Suter would give the Avs two guys who have already celebrated their 40th birthday, but Suter was solid last year for the Blues. Merrill would also offer some size and he’s been a solid third-pairing guy for a long time.
If the Avs added one of them, would they definitely trade one of the righties? Maybe not. Sam Malinski had a nice first full season in the NHL, but it wouldn’t be the worst idea to start the year with him as the No. 7. He’d still play a lot because of inevitable injuries, and maybe the Avs figure out a way to deploy the four righties effectively and he moves ahead of whoever the third LHD is at some point, anyway.
The Avs were still successful with three smaller guys (Cale Makar, Samuel Girard, Malinski) in the top six last season, but Jared Bednar and his staff would probably like to be able to get a little bigger when it matters.
It wouldn’t be surprising if the Avs do target a bigger defenseman, either in the next few weeks or ahead of the trade deadline.
What’s the plan/situation with EJ? Does he still want to play or is he mulling over hanging it up and taking a coaching position?
— davesnotonreddit, via Reddit
Erik Johnson said he didn’t come back to Denver to retire when the Avs traded for him, and he said he wanted to keep playing. Right now, it doesn’t look like there are any rooms available at the inn with the Avs.
It’s hard to imagine the Avs would plan to have five right-handed shots in the top eight, and for salary cap purposes, Colorado may plan to only carry seven on the roster. If the Avs move one of the other righties, would it make sense to add him as a No. 7/8 type? Sure.
If he doesn’t sign with another team before camp, could a tryout deal be possible? Sure. If he really wants to keep playing, the Avs might do that and get him in some preseason games to help his cause, even if it’s just a showcase for another team.
Will Jared Bednar healthy scratch Brent Burns for the first game to put the ironman streak to bed and remove any silly pressure to keep him in the lineup all season?
— AllRushMixTapes, via reddit
No. If Burns is healthy early in the season, he’s going to play.
Unless you’ve spent a little too much time reading the thoughts of online Hurricanes fans, there’s not a lot of reason to believe Burns can’t be a solid player for the Avs. There is a big difference between “maybe he shouldn’t play 23 minutes a night as the No. 2 guy” and “he should be a healthy scratch.”
At a minimum, he’s been very good on the penalty kill and should be one of the top three or four guys in PK ice time per game for the Avs. His Net Rating, an all-inclusive metric from The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn, was plus-6. That was higher than everyone on Colorado’s defense corps last season behind Cale Makar and Devon Toews.
At his age, I wouldn’t expect him to play all 82 games. I’d be surprised if his play is bad enough that the Avs would consider scratching him. He’s 75 games from 1,000 in a row, but 40 would move him into third place and 65 would put him second — and first among all defensemen.
Is there any universe where the front office will allow Martin Necas to start the season without an extension? How far do you think they will reasonably let it go before a trade is inevitable?
— Play-it-again-Milo, via reddit
I think starting the season without one is plausible, so yeah, this universe, maybe. It would be a surprise as of right now if Necas finishes the season without one.
A lot can happen — injuries, better than expected play (or worse), etc. Every situation is different, as Mikko Rantanen and his teammates found out when they all expected him to stay, even if it meant going down to the wire like Landeskog did in 2021.
I think if Necas starts the season without a contract and plays well, the Avs and his agent will figure something out. If the negotiations don’t go well … well, MacFarland has shown everyone that he is willing to hit the eject button.
The best-case scenarios for the Avs are either that Necas agrees to a below-market value contract, or another team offers them a deal they can’t refuse. Somewhere in between could get tricky. If Necas produces like he did during the regular season last year, the chances for a team-friendly contract around the time of the trade deadline might be gone.
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