After missing three whole seasons due to an injury, Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog is in line to make his return to the ice for the first time in over 1,000 days.
Landeskog, 32, has not touched the ice at the NHL level since being the first person on his team to lift the Stanley Cup in 2022.
But the team announced on Tuesday that his conditioning loan with the AHL-affiliate Colorado Eagles has ended and that Landeskog will return to the team for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
A series of surgeries and setbacks kept him away from play in the 2022-23, 2023-24, and 2024-25 regular seasons. He also completely missed the playoffs the two seasons prior.
Landeskog last touched the ice in Game 6 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Finals – which the Avalanche won to clinch their third championship in franchise history.
Following that victory and the resulting celebration, Landeskog underwent arthroscopic knee surgery in the offseason.
Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog is set to return to the team after three seasons
Landeskog last played in the NHL in the game he won the Stanley Cup. After a knee surgery in the 2022 offseason, and a second surgery after that, he’s missed three whole regular seasons.
After a rehab assignment with the AHL Colorado Eagles, Landeskog is set to return to the Avs
After initially being expected to miss just the first 12 weeks of the 2022-23 season, Landeskog ended up missing the entire campaign.
Any hopes of a return that year were washed away when the team announced he wouldn’t take part in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Further complications arrived when Landeskog had to undergo a cartilage transplant on his right knee.
As a result, he was forced to miss the entire 2023-24 season and the playoffs.
His recovery lasted longer than everyone had hoped and he missed all of the 2024-25 regular season as well.
Earlier this month, Landeskog was loaned out to the Eagles for a conditioning assignment.
He hit the ice for the first time in 1,020 days when he played in the Eagles’ game against the Henderson Silver Knights on April 11. Now, Landeskog is set to return to NHL ice when the Avalanche take on the Dallas Stars in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Landeskog is top ten in franchise history in games played (6th), goals (8th), assists (9th) and points (9th).