Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog will rejoin the team for practice today after a brief conditioning stint with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles, the club announced. With the Avs’ regular season schedule over, he’ll remain on long-term injured reserve until the rest of the league wraps up their games by Thursday.
Things went well for Landeskog in the minors as he gears up to return to the NHL after a nearly three-year absence due to multiple right knee surgeries. Colorado sent the 32-year-old down to the minors last week for the first time in his career. He suited up in back-to-back games for the Eagles against the Henderson Silver Knights on Friday and Saturday, notching a goal and an assist in the latter effort.
It’s still uncertain whether he’ll be on hand when the Avs open up their first-round series against the Stars, likely on Saturday. Landeskog still has a few days of practice and off time ahead of him to gauge how he feels, but his knee feeling strong enough to play on back-to-back nights in the AHL is promising. If he’s an option for Colorado to open the postseason, it will be his first NHL appearance in 1,028 days. He last suited up in the series-clinching Game 6 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Final against the Lightning.
Outside of its monumental nature, the left-winger’s potential return carries important roster construction implications for the Avs. Top-six fixtures Artturi Lehkonen and Valeri Nichushkin missed Colorado’s final regular-season game on Sunday with lower-body injuries, the team relayed to Evan Rawal of the Denver Gazette. They haven’t been handed designations any longer than day-to-day, so while they remain probable for Game 1 against Dallas, they’re not certain yet. Jonathan Drouin also missed the final six games of the season with a lower-body injury and remains uncertain to open the playoffs. That potentially leaves Colorado without three of its four usual top-six wingers to begin the series.
Of course, expecting Landeskog to stop right back into a top-six role out of the gate is unrealistic. He only played around 15 minutes in his AHL debut on Friday and would presumably have his minutes capped at a similar number if he returns to the NHL lineup. Nonetheless, it’s a major boost for the Avs to have their captain back in the lineup at all.