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The Colorado Avalanche are anticipating the return of Gabriel Landeskog before the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Colorado captain has not played a professional game since the 2022 Stanley Cup Final. However, this changes on Friday night. Landeskog returns to the ice for the AHL's Colorado Eagles as part of a conditioning stint.
The Avalanche have remained one of the best teams in hockey without Landeskog. In saying this, they are certainly happy to have the veteran winger close to returning. He has complemented superstar Nathan MacKinnon well over the years. While never an elite offensive producer, Landeskog has been an effective top-six player in his career.
He is a valued member of this team. They certainly want him back on the ice. However, they are not going to rush the Avalanche captain back. Head coach Jared Bednar said they will monitor his status heading into the postseason.
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“This is the toughest time of the year to jump back into a lineup, right? And he’s still not there yet,” Bednar said Friday before Landeskog's AHL debut, via Sportsnet. “We’ll just see how he does tonight, and we’ll just keep reevaluating from there, just like we would do with any other injury. But the length of time that this has gone on, it’s significant.
“So we’ll see how he looks in practice. We’ll make the decisions on our lineup for the games if he gets that point, and go from there. But still one day at a time.”
The Avalanche have punched their ticket to the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Colorado will take on the Dallas Stars in the first round of the postseason this year. This is a rematch of last year's second-round matchup, which the Stars won. It will be interesting to see if Landeskog has any impact on Colorado's postseason success upon his return.
