Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog will rejoin the team for practice today after a brief conditioning stint with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles, the club announced. With the Avs’ regular season schedule over, he’ll remain on long-term injured reserve until the rest of the league wraps up their games by Thursday.
Things went well for Landeskog in the minors as he gears up to return to the NHL after a nearly three-year absence due to multiple right knee surgeries. Colorado sent the 32-year-old down to the minors last week for the first time in his career. He suited up in back-to-back games for the Eagles against the Henderson Silver Knights on Friday and Saturday, notching a goal and an assist in the latter effort.
It’s still uncertain whether he’ll be on hand when the Avs open up their first-round series against the Stars, likely on Saturday. Landeskog still has a few days of practice and off time ahead of him to gauge how he feels, but his knee feeling strong enough to play on back-to-back nights in the AHL is promising. If he’s an option for Colorado to open the postseason, it will be his first NHL appearance in 1,028 days. He last suited up in the series-clinching Game 6 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Final against the Lightning.
Outside of its monumental nature, the left-winger’s potential return carries important roster construction implications for the Avs. Top-six fixtures Artturi Lehkonen and Valeri Nichushkin missed Colorado’s final regular-season game on Sunday with lower-body injuries, the team relayed to Evan Rawal of the Denver Gazette. They haven’t been handed designations any longer than day-to-day, so while they remain probable for Game 1 against Dallas, they’re not certain yet. Jonathan Drouin also missed the final six games of the season with a lower-body injury and remains uncertain to open the playoffs. That potentially leaves Colorado without three of its four usual top-six wingers to begin the series.
Of course, expecting Landeskog to stop right back into a top-six role out of the gate is unrealistic. He only played around 15 minutes in his AHL debut on Friday and would presumably have his minutes capped at a similar number if he returns to the NHL lineup. Nonetheless, it’s a major boost for the Avs to have their captain back in the lineup at all.
will this be a patrick kane type deal or a carey price one, only time will tell
Players need to pound him mercilessly as punishment to the Avs for cheating the cap.
It’s only “cheating” if it was against league rules. This isn’t against league rules. You probably also complained when Tampa, Vegas, & Chicago did it too. Florida did it this year too. Get over it.
Why would someone try to reinjure him for having the audacity to be injured? Thats just silly. I can’t believe I’m sorta agreeing with CrybabyThunder here.
Silly comment when the guy hasn’t played a game since 2022. This is a great story for Landeskog, especially with the stark contrast of Logan Couture about to retire due to injury.
There’s trolling and there’s just being a moron. I’d hope you have the comprehension to understand which category this comment falls into
Strangely, none of you who claim that teams are cheating can explain how a team is cheating when it is using the cap as it was collectively bargained.
If ignorance is bliss, you have reached Nirvana.
@ Zaava – *If* that were to happen, Keaton Middleton would be at the front of the line to tear that dumbass apart, followed by every other guy in burgundy-and-blue, including both netminders. Enough of a majority of NHL teams voted for “the cap bypass” rule, so unless it’s collectively-bargained back out again, the rule is here to stay.
@ zaava: ugh, seriously, this crap again? Is it “cheating” when an EBUG gets brought into a game, instead of making your sixth defenseman put the pads on? Is it “cheating” to call someone up from the minors when a player’s hurt, instead of being manly and sucking it up? Is it “cheating” to sign a RFA to an offer sheet? Is it “cheating” to do half a hundred other things that THE RULES ALLOW YOU TO DO?
What the hell is wrong with you? Motor called it: which one are you, a troll or a moron?
Bro really lol. The guy doesn’t need to be targeted because there are loop holes, at the very least the cap does have to be different in the playoffs tho if not non existent. Teams have the “Black Aces” and a 3rd Goalie on had for injuries so maybe the rule should be the cap increases by 5%-10% but as of now they have no cap and the guy will be lucky to make it through 15 playoffs games anyway with how brutal things are
Pretty sure no one stays out for three years just to get some sort of advantage on the salary cap. If anything, his contract has been a detriment to his team for these years.
Beyond that, I’m pretty sure NHL players are more mature than you are.
Good luck to Landeskog – I admire the resilience it takes for him to see this through to an on-ice return.
Good grief, The guy is coming back from a serious injury. He lost a couple hundred games to this.
This isn’t a guy sitting out with a sprained wrist so a team can add a $9M player at the deadline.
Zaava is an idiot! How about a little support for his comeback after 1000+ days away from the game?!