Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog took another step toward a long-awaited return this week, joining the AHL’s Colorado Eagles on a conditioning assignment after nearly three years away from NHL action.
The 32-year-old has not played since lifting the Stanley Cup in June 2022. He’s missed two full seasons while recovering from a serious knee injury that required cartilage transplant surgery in May 2023.
After months of skating and practicing in a limited capacity, Landeskog is now eligible to appear in up to three games with the Eagles, who have five left in their regular season.
Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said there’s a real possibility Landeskog could be activated at some point during Colorado’s postseason run starting April 19.
“When he says he’s ready to play, he’s gonna play,” Bednar said Thursday. “The more excited he gets about a return, the more excited I get. Because I know there’s been lots of peaks and valleys.
“When you’re talking about mental toughness, resilience, just the work ethic it takes to go through what he’s gone through… to get to the point where he could possibly play, it’s pretty exciting.”
Landeskog practiced with the Avalanche in March and has been traveling with the team, but until this week had not been cleared for full-contact work. He joined the AHL's club practice on Wednesday.
Bednar emphasized earlier this week that the process remains day-by-day.
“He’s ramped up his days on the ice, the workload in those days,” Bednar said on Tuesday. “Then we just wait for the next day and re-evaluate and see how he responds.”
Landeskog, who has played 738 regular-season games with Colorado, was named team captain in 2012 at age 19.
He scored 22 points in 20 games during the team’s 2022 championship run, and he's racked up 248 goals and 323 assists for 571 total points throughout his career.
The Avalanche will enter the 2024–25 playoffs as the No. 3 seed out of the Central Division after putting together a 48-28-4 record and reaching 100 points through 80 games, six behind the Dallas Stars (106 points in 79 games) in second through Thursday's slate.
