The Colorado Avalanche have been without team captain Gabriel Landeskog since he helped lead them to the Stanley Cup in the spring of 2022. He's undergone several surgeries and was hopeful to make a return to action at some point in the near future, but those plans were unfortunately put on hold.

The good news is that Landeskog has been a frequent participant in Avalanche practice sessions albeit in limited fashion, including on Thursday morning:

According to head coach Jared Bednar, he remains hopeful that the Avalanche captain could become a full participant with the rest of his teammates at some point during the 2024-25 season, via X.

“I sure hope so,” he said. “I don't have lengthy conversations on Gabe on a daily, or even weekly basis because it's been a long time. But he's in good spirits and I think he's making progress. It's all I can say.”

The Avalanche host Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night at Ball Arena in Denver; puck drop is scheduled for 9:00 PM EST.

Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog hasn't played since 2022

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A native of Stockholm, Sweden, Landeskog was drafted by the Avalanche with the second overall pick in the 2011 NHL Draft.

It wouldn't be long before he made NHL history, becoming the youngest captain in League history (at the time) at 19 years and 286 days. In 738 NHL games, he's scored 248 goals with 323 assists, along with 27 goals and 40 assists in 69 postseason games.

He last played in Game Six of the 2022 Stanley Cup Final; he subsequently underwent arthroscopic knee surgery as well as cartilage transplant surgery.

Since winning the Stanley Cup, the Avalanche have won a long postseason series, which came in the spring of 2024 against the Winnipeg Jets. They were ousted in the opening round of the 2023 postseason by the Seattle Kraken; they were later defeated by the Dallas Stars in the second round of 2024.