Avalanche Mailbag: What’s up with Gabriel Landeskog, the goaltending and the new arena development plans?

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.

What’s the latest on Gabe Landeskog? Will we get to see him play this year? It’s weird to have our captain be someone who hasn’t played on the ice in two years. I feel like we should have an interim “C” in place, like Nathan MacKinnon.

— James A., Denver

There isn’t a lot of new info on Landeskog. Both Chris MacFarland and Jared Bednar have given vague “still in recovery” type of responses since the season began.

The Avs said several times last season that it was a “12-to-16-month” timeline. Then MacKinnon slipped in “12 to 18 months” during training camp. It will be 18 months on Nov. 10. He hasn’t been seen skating in public in a while now. That doesn’t mean he’s not skating, but we’ve only seen him in the workout room or hanging out with teammates.

Lonzo Ball had the same procedure on March 20, 2023 and he played in his first game Oct. 16 with the Bulls. Landeskog had the surgery on May 10, 2023. They play two different sports, and Landeskog mentioned at one point that he has had to re-train his skating stride. Ball didn’t have to do that.

Could Landeskog play by early December? Maybe. He’s going to need some real practice time, whenever he’s ready to skate with the team again.

As for the captain part of this, the Avs have made it clear they’re not naming another one. And MacKinnon has said he doesn’t want it to be him, so if they do need a new one in the near future, it is probably more likely to be Cale Makar.

Do you think this Avs team could have three 100-point scorers? If they’re healthy, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen should get 100 each again, but Cale Makar’s been knocking on that door.

— Mike, Denver

I certainly think it’s possible, even probably if all three of those guys play 75-plus games. Makar was at a 95-point pace last year, and he admitted it wasn’t his best season. If the Avs have one of the best power plays in the league and an improved second line with Casey Mittelstadt in the middle, I think a peak, healthy year for Makar could be 105-110 points.

The Avs are off to a slow start and goaltending has been bad. Do fans need to worry this early in the season? And what needs to change to turn things around?

— Rip, Aurora

Rip likely submitted this before Justus Annunen’s work on this past road trip, but it’s still fair to be concerned with Alexandar Georgiev. The Avs have made it clear they believe he’ll bounce back to his normal self, and he does have a long track record of being a competent-or-better goaltender in the NHL.

The Avs are 4-4, and could easily be 5-3 or even 6-2 with better goaltending … but if we replayed the start of the season with average goaltending, they might also still be 4-4 because their finishing luck or the other team’s goalie could have been better in a game or two.

They’re going to be fine, assuming Jonathan Drouin, Artturi Lehkonen and Valeri Nichushkin are all close to 100 percent of the version they were last season. And then anything they can get from Landeskog would be a bonus. Winning the division/conference is still a possibility if they really get rolling in the second half of the year.

What does the new redevelopment deal in Denver look like for the Avs? Will there be a new arena or practice area for the team?

— Tony, Longmont

The Avs and Nuggets have pledged to stay at Ball Arena (or at least on the property) through 2050 as part of this new redevelopment plan. I’m borrowing a line directly from our guy Joe Rubino: “KSE has the sole discretion to build a new venue for the teams on the Ball Arena property or the neighboring River Mile property (where Elitch Gardens amusement park is) at any point during the agreement.”

Even if the teams do just stay at Ball, there will certainly be all kinds of upgrades and changes to the facility in the future. Every sports arena/stadium gets new bells and whistles to keep up with the Joneses, save for maybe the Oakland A’s. Will this new development include a practice facility for either or both teams? That’s still not clear, but it is something we’ll be digging into in the near future.

I saw a lot of people excited about Parker Kelly when he came in. I haven’t noticed him very much through the first eight games. Should we expect to see more from him, or am I just not seeing it?

— Dean via Twitter (@AuriceHorses)

The Avs are trying to turn Kelly into a center. It’s going to take some time. Ross Colton scuffled at times last year, and he had more experience at the position than Kelly does right now.

I think he’s been pretty good on the penalty kill. He has the worst expected goals-for percentage on the team at 5-on-5, but the Avs also haven’t been able to give him consistent linemates yet. Eventually, he should be the No. 4 center, but right now he’s the de facto No. 3.

He could work out as the team’s 4C after he gets half a season to settle in and the team gets healthy, or the Avs could end up adding another center at the trade deadline and push him back to his natural spot on a wing.

Could you please squelch any rumors that Cale “wants to be traded to Calgary?”

— @BkWilmore via Twitter

I think there’s as much of a likelihood of that happening as Sidney Crosby finishing his career with the Avalanche (which is to say highly, highly unlikely). I haven’t spent time around Makar for that long, but he hasn’t struck me as a “yearns for home” kind of guy.

Also, nice start to this season aside, the Flames … stink. Or to be nicer about it, Calgary might be 32nd on a list of teams ranked by when will they be a Stanley Cup contender again. They’re still in the bottoming out part of the rebuilding phase, while teams like San Jose, Chicago and Anaheim have a big head start on the way back up.

Adding Makar would certainly help, but if someone offered the chance to bet on the Flames winning a playoff series right now in the next five years, I would pass. Can’t see someone who wants to win as badly as him being willing to spend the prime of his career on a team that almost certainly can’t win the Cup.

Is Annunen finally rising up to the level of pre-draft hope? Is there a way back for Georgiev after his horrible start (and some games at the back end of last season, let’s not forget those)?

— Kuba via Twitter (@Garm1981)

Most goalies take a long time to develop. Annunen has been a fascinating one to watch since I moved here before last season. Despite his draft pedigree, there does seem to be more “doubt first” than “benefit of the doubt” with him. He’s not the quickest goalie, so sometimes the goals against look a particular type of bad.

The Avs also haven’t trusted him to play against good teams. If Kaapo Kahkonen had been on an American team, he might have already had multiple chances to take Annunen’s job.

That said, the results continue to be pretty good. When he’s on, the puck just … hits him. And that’s a compliment from me, not a negative. He’ll have to prove it with some consistency against better teams at some point, but I don’t see why he can’t at least be a solid backup for them.

I also think Georgiev will still get plenty of chances to reclaim the No. 1 role.

Power rank the league but based solely on the quality of the town’s food offerings.

— @taylordbaird via Twitter

I am picturing Taylor as The Joker, walking away from the hospital in “The Dark Knight” … feels like she wants me to create some enemies. And she knows I’m not walking away from a food-related question/challenge.

I’m going to limit this ranking to just “best food within a reasonable distance of the arena.” For instance, Dallas is a great food city … but walking/taking public transit to get lunch from American Airlines Center is not nearly as exciting as other NHL barns.

I also said reasonable, because I lived in Manhattan for 10 years and will walk/take the subway anywhere for a great meal. I’m trying to keep what a normal human would think of as reasonable in mind.

Elite: Los Angeles, Montreal, Nashville, N.Y. Rangers, Toronto, Vegas, Vancouver

Great: Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Columbus, New Jersey, San Jose, Seattle, Tampa Bay, Washington, Winnipeg

Good, but better with a car or long-ish train ride: Calgary, Denver, Detroit, Edmonton, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia

Need more research, but first trip was promising: Utah

Not great, but much better with a car: Anaheim, Carolina, Dallas, Florida, N.Y. Islanders

Not great: Ottawa, St. Louis

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