Subscribe
Follow Us
Last June, Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog was on top of the hockey world, leading his club to the franchise's first Stanley Cup championship since 2001. The Swedish star hasn't played a hockey game since.
After missing the entire 2022-23 season and Stanley Cup Playoffs due to right knee surgery, the 30-year-old received an absolutely devastating injury update on Tuesday.
“Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog will undergo a cartilage transplant in his right knee on May 10. The surgery will be performed by Dr. Brian Cole at the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. The forward is expected to miss the entire 2023-24 season,” the team said in a statement.
It's the absolute worst case scenario for Landeskog and the entire Avalanche team, who sorely missed their leader this season and will now have to play without him for all of next year.
It was fully expected that he would recover in time for training camp, but it looks like the injury to his right knee was much more serious than initially feared.
Rarely does an injury cost a player a full two seasons, but if it means that the captain will come back completely healthy in 2024-25, it is certainly the right move for the player and the organization.
Article Continues Below
Landeskog is signed through the end of the 2028-29 season, and there's a great chance that he will play out his contract in Colorado, and probably stay with the organization for the rest of his career.
Still, it's an awful break for an excellent player, who has been a true leader for the Avalanche since joining the franchise after being selected with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2011 NHL Draft.
He was named the fourth captain in team history in Sept. 2012, becoming the youngest captain in NHL history at 19 years and 286 days.
Wishing Gabriel Landeskog all the best with his cartilage transplant and subsequent recovery in 2023.
