Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog is one step closer to making his return to the National Hockey League (NHL).
Last week, the team announced that Landeskog had officially rejoined the team. This gave a clear indication that the Avalanche would play him during their first round Stanley Cup playoffs matchup against the Dallas Stars, making him one step closer to playing NHL hockey for the first time in three years.
Since returning to hockey, Landeskog had been loaned to the Colorado Eagles of the American Hockey League (AHL) on a conditioning assignment. In the assignment, he played his first hockey game since Game 6 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Final where the Avalanche defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 to win the Stanley Cup. In that AHL game, Landeskog recorded two shots on goal in almost 15 minutes of ice time.
In his second AHL game, Landeskog had a goal and an assist which led to him being named the First Star of the game. This proved to be enough for the Avalanche to call him up to the NHL roster. While Landeskog did not feature in the team’s 5-1 victory over the Dallas Stars in Game 1, all signs point to him returning during the series. At the time of writing, it is still unclear when Landeskog will return to NHL action.
After winning the Stanley Cup, Landeskog missed the 2022-2023 season after having surgery on his right knee before the season. He then got cartilage transplant surgery on May 10, 2023, leading to him being ruled out for the 2023-2024 campaign as well as the current campaign to this point.
Selected by the Avalanche with the second pick in the 2011 draft, Landeskog has recorded 571 points in 738 regular season games and 67 points in 69 playoff games.
