Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog will return to the ice against the Washington Capitals, head coach Jared Bednar told the media (including NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti) today. Landeskog has been out since March 6 with a lower-body injury, and has missed seven consecutive games.
Landeskog’s return will give the Avalanche a boost as they ready for what the team hopes (or even expects) is to be a deep playoff run starting next month. Landeskog, who missed nearly three full years of hockey recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery he underwent after winning the Stanley Cup in 2022, has returned to being a top-six player for the Avalanche.
While he hasn’t produced at the same level he was at when he was last a healthy NHL player (he scored 30 goals and 59 points in just 51 games in 2021-22), he’s still been a productive member of an Avalanche team that has been the class of the league in 2025-26. Through 47 games, he’s scored nine goals and 29 points, which is a 16-goal, 51-point 82-game scoring pace. He’s scored at that rate despite no longer being a staple on the team’s first power play unit.
With Landeskog injured, the Avalanche elevated veteran Valeri Nichushkin to Landeskog’s previous role, which was as the first-line left wing alongside Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas.
Nichushkin is coming off of a game two days ago in which he scored a goal and added an assist in the team’s win over the Chicago Blackhawks, so it’s possible Bednar won’t want to separate that first line even with Landeskog returning. If that’s the case, he could find a landing spot on Colorado’s second line, which is currently a trio of three centers (Nazem Kadri, Brock Nelson, Nicolas Roy).
If anything, Landeskog’s return could provide better balance to the Avalanche lineup, as the team is currently staffing its bottom-six with players relatively short on NHL experience. In the team’s most recent game, their fourth line combined for 41 games of total NHL experience from before 2025-26.
Landeskog is a perfect buyout candidate.
Please expand on that thought
I dont think so. You dont wait 3 years for a guy to suit up, keep the C on his sweater and buy him out after 1 season. He’s been productive. He hasn’t reaggravated the big time knee issue. There is next to 0% chance he gets bought out.