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The BSN Top 25 Avalanche players under 25 continues with #2 – Gabriel Landeskog, the 23 year old team captain. All seven BSN staffers placed Landeskog in the second slot. Any guesses who was selected at #1?
Drafted second overall by the Avalanche in the 2011 NHL entry draft, Landeskog became the youngest captain in NHL history and only the fourth captain for the Colorado Avalanche.
Who is Gabriel Landeskog?
Hailing from Stockholm, Sweden, Landeskog is the son of a former Swedish Hockey League defenseman. After moving up the hockey ranks in Sweden as a youth, he left to play hockey in Canada when he was 16. Entering the Ontario Hockey League draft, the Plymouth Whalers selected him third overall in the 2009 draft. His rights were traded to the Kitchener Rangers in early August of the same year. In the 2009-2010 season, Landeskog ranked third among all OHL rookies for both goals and points, helping Kitchener to advance to the conference finals. He became the team captain the following year.
When the Avalanche drafted Landeskog in 2011, he tied for the second highest Swedish draft pick ever (along with Victor Hedman and Daniel Sedin), behind only Mats Sundin who had been selected first in 1989. He joined Colorado for the 2011-2012 season and became the youngest Swedish hockey player to score a goal when he notched a tally in October. Landeskog finished his rookie season leading the team in scoring with 22 goals and earning 52 points, passing Matt Duchene. He was the only Avalanche player to appear in all 82 games that season and led all rookies in shots on goal. The NHL recognized his quality play by awarding him the Calder Memorial trophy for rookie of the year.
At the beginning of the following season, Milan Hejduk spoke with Landeskog about becoming the team captain, which he eventually agreed to, becoming the youngest captain in NHL history, 11 days younger than when Sidney Crosby became the team leader in Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, the NHL lockout interrupted the season and Landeskog returned to Sweden where he tallied 14 points in 17 games. Despite having an injury plagued season upon the end of the lockout, the Avalanche still signed him to a seven-year contract in the offseason.
He played for Team Sweden in both the 2012 and 2013 World Championships, serving as an alternate captain in 2012 and helping the team win a gold medal in 2013. Landeskog also played for Sweden in the 2014 Olympics where they won the silver medal.
Landeskog has continued to improve his play, scoring at least 20 goals in each of the past three seasons as well as earning over fifty points each year. He has managed to be second on the team in points each year over that time frame. The Landeskog-Carl Soderberg–Blake Comeau/Shawn Matthias line exhibited the most consistent unit play and matched up favorably with the more powerful opposing match-ups in the game. Unfortunately, Landeskog’s intensity also cost him two suspensions last year which could raise questions about his play should the borderline issues continue.
What is the future for Gabriel Landeskog?
Landeskog faces a crossroads at the start of this year. The Avalanche have a new coach and likely new systems. The organization seems to be developing the kind of depth they have long needed. The influx of new ideas and personalities could be a boon to the captain but will also require some adjustments.
The Avalanche have Landeskog locked up to a reasonable contract through the 2021-2022 season. If he plays the solid offensive and defensive role that is his forte, eliminates costly penalties, and works well with the new coaches and incoming players, there is every reason to think he could elevate his production.
Landeskog should hopefully benefit from some of the new systems to come. If so, he could play out his contract and look for another extension in a few years. He has shown he can play well when he has quality line mates and effective systems that utilize his speed, skill, and size.
However, if the team does not improve this year, all bets are off. The front office made it clear they are serious about winning and they made substantial changes to everything but the core players. If the core fails to improve, Landeskog would be attractive trade bait. The players face a make or break year, and Landeskog definitely has an opportunity to help raise everyone to a new level.
