Avs and Landeskog agree on eight-year, $56 million extension

Deadlines spur action, and both sides sure waited until the last second, but it’s done with.

With a little over 20 minutes to spare, the Avs and Gabriel Landeskog came to an eight-year agreement totaling $56 million to keep the Captain of the team around for most of the next decade. The deadline where teams could offer their pending unrestricted free agents the eighth year in contract negotiations was set to expire at 9:59 MST, but the Avs managed to get there, and it turned out to be the difference in negotiations.

While full details of the contract have not come out in terms of his actual salary on a year-to-year basis, his annual cap hit will be $7M, and that’s the big number fans will be concerned with. The other important thing to note on the contract is that Landeskog will have a full no-movement clause for the first four years of the deal, and that will move to a modified no-trade clause during the final four years.

Different analytical models have varying outlooks on how Landeskog’s deal holds up as he ages into his 30s. Here are two prominent examples:

Some serious risk involved here with the term, not to mention the fact that he's played 86% of his minutes in the past three seasons with one of the best centres in the world. I'm a bit surprised that COL gave him the full eight. pic.twitter.com/SkOdkZF893

— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) July 28, 2021

A decent deal for Landeskog who should be worth the price tag for the next five seasons – though there's some trouble after that. Deal has a 56 percent chance at bringing positive value. pic.twitter.com/7uRdP5DPsI

— dom 📈 (@domluszczyszyn) July 28, 2021

With their Captain locked up, the Avs now must turn their attention to determining who will be their goaltender next season. Vezina Trophy finalist Philipp Grubauer appears ready, barring a last-minute change, to hit the open market on Wednesday afternoon, meaning the Avs will now have competition for his services. With a little over $12M in cap space left, they will have room to maneuver and see what other options are out there, both in net and to fill out the rest of their roster.

Stay tuned to DNVR for more Avs news as it comes in during Free Agent Frenzy on Wednesday.