Avalanche Notes: Landeskog, O’Connor, Girard

While there has been plenty of speculation over the last calendar year that the Colorado Avalanche may see the return of their captain Gabriel Landeskog by the beginning of the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs, it appears this theory may have legs. In a report today from Colleen Flynn of The Hockey News, Landeskog will be traveling with the team to Winnipeg to start their first-round series against the Jets.

Infamously, Landeskog’s last game came on June 26th, 2022, the same date that the Avalanche unseated the Tampa Bay Lightning at the top of the hockey world, claiming their third Stanley Cup Championship in franchise history. After the Stanley Cup celebration, however, Landeskog underwent arthroscopic knee surgery and has missed every game since.

Being that a return is unlikely given that it has never been done in the NHL prior, Landeskog’s drive and determination have at least produced non-zero odds of a potential return. As the Avalanche look to make it beyond the first found of the Stanley Cup playoffs this spring, the return of their captain would certainly help their cause.

Other Avalanche notes:

• In the same report from Flynn, forward Logan O’Connor will also be joining the team on their flight to Manitoba. Nevertheless, there has been no indication that O’Connor is close to returning in time for the start of Round One, as he continues to recover from hip surgery that has kept him out of the lineup since the first week of March.
• Unlike O’Connor, one player who is close to a return is defenseman Samuel Girard once again according to Colleen Flynn of The Hockey News. Girard has been out with a concussion for about a week and remains questionable to return for the first game of the series against the Jets. If the Avalanche are able to get a few players back at the beginning of the series, the hockey world saw not all that long ago how dangerous a fully healthy Colorado lineup can be.