Will Landeskog be ready to return by start of playoffs?
Q>> What’s the ETA on Gabe Landeskog’s return? I know we’ve been rolling of late, but getting our captain back would certainly help us in the playoffs. — Mike, Denver
BENNETT>> Landeskog skated with the team during a morning skate for the first time Monday — but don’t read too much into that. “He’ll be working on his own quite a while,” Bednar said. He still hasn’t been willing to officially rule Landeskog out for the regular season, but I think it’s getting pretty safe to say it’ll take until at least the playoffs.
The tricky thing about this is that the team truly doesn’t know when he’ll feel good enough. It’s an entirely play-it-by-ear situation right now. Colorado is waiting for an indication from Landeskog that he’s at least one step closer. So it’s difficult for anybody to speak to the nature of his recovery except Landeskog himself — and team policy is to not make injured players available to media.
Q>> Can you break down why Mikko Rantanen’s been on such a scoring tear this season? He’s been a solid 30-goal scorer the last few years, but this uptick is pretty incredible.
— Ron, Parker
BENNETT>> Part of the explanation is as simple as increased demand. Rantanen is one of only four Avalanche players to appear in the lineup for each of the first 70 games ( joined by Compher, Newhook and Logan O’connor). His average minutes are at a career-high, and he has buoyed the roster with Nathan Mackinnon, Cale Makar and Valeri Nichushkin missing a combined 55 games. That’s to say nothing of Landeskog’s season-long absence.
The onus is on him to take more shots — already a career-high in that category too with 12 games left. In Rantanen’s first six seasons, he averaged 196 shots per 82 games and never passed 200 in a season. This year, he’s at 258 shots in 70 games — an 82-game pace of 302.
So while his shooting percentage is also up to a careerhigh 18.2%, it’s still in the same ballpark as his previous seasons (16.2% for his career). That might be why Mackinnon, a longtime teammate, has been a bit defensive of Rantanen whenever asked about the “improvement” in Rantanen’s game this year. Answers tend to be along the lines of: He’s always been really good.
It’s true. Two years ago during a shortened season, Rantanen was quietly top-three in 5-on-5 goals with a higher 5-on-5 shooting percentage (16.82%) than this year’s (15.43%). Right now, he and Connor Mcdavid are grappling for the league lead in 5-on-5 goals.
One difference worth identifying, though, is that Rantanen is putting himself in more net-front positions for tips and redirects. This season, his deflections have a higher likelihood of being goals than the league expected rate, whereas he was below league expected last year, according to Hockey Viz. Mostly, though, he’s sticking to his strengths. He loves the right side of the ice, especially the faceoff circle for wristers and snapshots. And few players in the league possess his bullseye shot placement, especially to the far post top shelf.