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.
No other team in the West looks very strong right now. But which team other than the Avs is most likely to make it out of the West to the Stanley Cup Final?
— thriller1 via Reddit
The boring answers here are still probably the correct ones. It’s still hard to see anyone outside of Colorado, Dallas, Edmonton or Vegas reaching the Stanley Cup Final, with Winnipeg as a wild card if Connor Hellebuyck ever gets over his postseason struggles.
Anaheim, Chicago, San Jose and Utah are all up-and-coming and talented. Any of them making the playoffs would be fun. None of them is winning three rounds in 2026. At some point beyond that, maybe, but not this season.
Edmonton looks like a mess. Dallas and Vegas have key guys injured. All of that can, and likely will, change. The Oilers were 3-9-1 two years ago, fired their coach and still made the Cup Final. The Stars have not been a good team at 5-on-5, but have been lethal on the power play.
Sidenote: I know Avs fans are still dealing with the power-play trauma from last year, but every NHL team would rather be great at 5-on-5 and worrying about the power play come playoff time than the reverse.
A healthy Vegas roster is still the most complete one, ahead of the trade deadline anyway. If you told me one of these four teams adds a quality top-four defenseman and the other three do not, I’d like that team to win the West. All four teams have offensive firepower galore, but any or all of them could use one more defenseman.
As Gabe Landeskog plays more and more games, does he have any plans to return to the top six, or does he/the team anticipate him remaining a third-ish line player for the rest of his career (barring major roster changes)?
— Ry, Aurora
It’s too early to say Landeskog is definitely a third-line guy for good. Is that a fair bet. On this team? Could be.
The Avs have been very healthy at the top of the lineup, at least until Valeri Nichushkin’s injury. I do think we’ll see Landeskog as a short-term fill-in on one of the top two lines at some point. I also think if they’re fully healthy in April, coach Jared Bednar would like to have Landeskog right where he is right now.
Landeskog has been a little unlucky, production-wise — he even had an assist taken away against the Islanders after the trio of goals were wiped out. But the Avs have no desire to push the captain’s ice time beyond where it’s at now (14-15 minutes per night) during the regular season.
Maybe that will change once the playoffs begin, but everything moving forward with Landeskog is completely uncharted territory. How will his body hold up over the course of 82 games? So far, mostly so good, but it’s still a long way to the end. How will it hold up with postseason games basically every other day during a long playoff run? Still don’t know that, either.
Nothing about Landeskog’s play on the ice has hurt the Avs. If he’s just a steady third-line guy, plus all of the other intangible stuff he brings, the organization would be very happy with that for the next few years — especially with the salary cap skyrocketing.
Jarde Bednar has proven he doesn’t stick to what’s expected with lineups, including playing Scott Wedgewood as a starter and putting Gavin Brindley on the second line. If you could have a “Blendar” game, what move would you make?
— Ian, Arvada
Two ideas that I think I’d try out for a game or two, just to see what it looks like:
1. Two of Victor Olofsson, Ross Colton and Brindley playing on a line with Nathan MacKinnon. Either MacKinnon’s line still terrorizes the opposing team, or those second and third lines just feast against inferior matchups. Or both.
2. Brent Burns at the top of the power play, with MacKinnon and Cale Makar on the flanks, Artturi Lehkonen in the bumper and Nichushkin or Landeskog at the net front. Could be terrible, could be unstoppable. Just want to see it.
The front office is always looking for improvements, so could Valeri Nichushkin be the one traded to dump salary for next year? Also, any potential issues like he had in the past?
— Nathan, Dallas
Nichushkin has four more years left on his contract after this one. Given his past issues, it could be hard for another team to assume that risk. It would be even harder to get full value for him. Any team trying to trade for him would be looking to get him at a discount.
When he’s healthy, Nichushkin is one of the top 10-15 wings in the NHL, and when he’s really going, the list is even smaller. Toss in that he only costs $6.125 million against the cap, and while the risk of another issue may always be there, he’s one of the very best values in the NHL as well.
The Avs decided they were going to stick with him, support him as best they can, and try to help him get right off the ice. So far, so good. As long as he remains committed off the ice, there’s no way they’re moving him for salary cap concerns.
I’d love to know if there are plans to keep Scott Wedgewood long-term?
— ReeeeeeAndClear via Reddit
What is the long- and short-term path for Wedgewood? Mackenzie Blackwood is just coming back, and understandably not 100%, but Scott has been amazing, and it feels like he deserves a starting spot somewhere.
— Tdavis13245 via Reddit
Scott Wedgewood is having a moment at the start of this season, and has quickly become a fan favorite at Ball Arena. He just signed a one-year, $2.5 million contract extension for next season.
So, what about beyond next year? He’ll be 34 next season, but there are factors beyond just him at play as well.
Given the way Wedgewood is playing right now, and how he has played over much of the previous four seasons, there is reason to believe in him. Goalies age differently from other players, and Wedgewood does have less “tread on his tires” than a typical NHL goalie at his age.
There is also Ilya Nabokov. He’s an intriguing prospect. He’s 22 right now, and does have multiple strong seasons in the KHL. But, he’s also scuffling a bit this year. It happens.
Look at some of the other top goalie prospects. Jesper Wallstedt just turned 23, and this is his first year as the full-time backup for the Wild. Yaroslav Askarov, 23, appears to be staking his claim to the No. 1 spot in San Jose. Dustin Wolf was 23 last year and a Calder Trophy finalist.
So could Nabokov be a viable NHL backup next year at 23? Sure. How many teams with Stanley Cup aspirations carry a backup goalie that young? Not many, but the Panthers did with Spencer Knight last year (until they traded him to Chicago).
Will Nabokov be willing to wait and play games in the AHL? That could be tricky.
Will the Avs let Wedgwood leave if he’s still playing well and wants to come back? I wouldn’t bet on that.
Having Blackwood as both the No. 1 guy and locked in for four more years might have as much to do with what happens in the long run with Nabokov as Wedgewood’s play.
If having Blackwood and Wedgwood together at a relatively low cost is productive, getting NHL games for Nabokov and keeping him happy is not likely to be the top priority — next year, or the year after, even.
If the Avs need Nabokov to be a low-cost No. 2, or even a potential No. 1, then things are different. Things could change, but right now … it’d be hard to argue they need him.
One detail of note here: Wedgewood’s birthday is in August. That means Wedgwood won’t be eligible for a one-year, incentive-laden contract (like the one Brent Burns signed this year) after next season.
Per the NHL CBA, a player needs to be 35 or older by June of the league year prior to the year of the contract. That means he’d need to be 35 by June 30, 2027, to sign a “35-plus” contract for 2027-28. That might have been helpful, but it also might not matter.
I don’t think anyone expects Wedgewood to be this good consistently for the rest of this season and the next one. But, if he still can settle in as an above-average backup, the win-now Avs may be willing to send Nabokov elsewhere and stick with the tandem they have now.
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