I’m bringing back the weekly Monday Notebook, one of my favorite stories to write last season. This is where you’ll find any quick-hit thoughts that came to mind over the past seven days that aren’t necessarily long enough for a long-form story.
Heading into the holiday break, after one last Avalanche game on Tuesday, here are the thoughts from this past week.
Landeskog Keeps Jumping Hurdles
I don’t think any of us would’ve expected, 35 games into the season, that Gabe Landeskog would have played every game and worked his way up the top line. It’s unbelievable what he’s doing. And quite honestly, it just shows how truly committed he was to this in those three years that he was sidelined.
Landeskog looks like the guy we remember. It doesn’t look like a player who missed as much time as he did. He had just four points in his first 16 games. But over the last 19, he has six goals, eight assists, 14 points, and a +13 rating. He’s somehow getting better with more ice time, games, and physicality.
He’s also played 20+ minutes in each of the last two games. He only did it once before that.
READ MORE: The Aftermath: Avalanche Humble Surging Wild, Extend Winning Streak to 5 Games
Trade Freeze is First of Few Unique Deadlines
General managers love a hard deadline. The trade freeze has become somewhat of a mini deadline over the last couple of years.
On Dec. 18 last year, just before the freeze, the Habs traded Justin Barron for Alexandre Carrier, the Islanders acquired Robert Bortuzzo from St. Louis, and the Rangers dealt Kaapo Kakko to the Kraken.
This year, it was Philip Danault being traded to Montreal, and the Kraken making another move, sending Mason Marchment to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
This season is going to be a touch more unique with those hard deadlines. There will be another trade freeze around the Olympics, and just 10 days between when NHL resumes in late February and the March 6 deadline. So, while the deadline is still two and a half months away, it’s really less than two months’ worth of games before it because of that lengthy break.
For example, on Feb. 1, the NHL will be a month and five days away from the deadline, but the Avalanche will play just seven games in that stretch. January is ultimately the time for teams to decide which way they want to go, and that early February trade freeze might also see a wave of trades because of the risk of injury at the Olympics.
READ MORE: 10 Observations: Power Play Was Powerful, Landeskog Elevated, and Fearless Brindley
Avalanche Statement Victory
I wrote a lot about the Avs’ incredible performance in Minnesota on Sunday, and I’ll link those stories within this article for you to check out if you haven’t already.
But I’ll leave you with this final thought: The Avalanche basically told the Minnesota Wild that, while it’s nice they’ve jumped all the way up to third in the league, it’s not because they’re close to being as good as first in the NHL. It’s just that they’re better than 29 other teams who are also behind the Avs.
Sabres Are Intriguing Again
We are about three years too late on the Buffalo Sabres finally moving on from the mess of a Kevyn Adams experiment. But the way they went about it makes them one of the more intriguing teams to watch between now and September 2026.
Not only did they hire a GM in Jarmo Kekalainen, who has experience in the position and is known for making bold moves. But it’s also a guy who came in last summer and had several months to see why the product in Buffalo hasn’t worked.
Kekalainen isn’t starting his first week on the job. His thoughts as a GM don’t start now. He’s had months of information to put together on players, roles, and even future trades, contract negotiations, etc.
I’d keep an eye on the Sabres, even leading up to the trade deadline. Kekalainen’s track record says so.
