DALLAS — Gabe Landeskog is back … on the Colorado Avalanche active roster.
Despite signs that Landeskog would make his NHL return for Game 2 of this 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs opening-round series, he was not in the lineup Monday night against the Dallas Stars.
The Colorado captain was activated from long-term injured reserve Monday afternoon, hours before Game 2. Landeskog led the Avs skaters out for warmups, behind starting goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood. He had the ‘C’ on his jersey, while Devon Toews was not sporting an ‘A.’
But Miles Wood, not Landeskog, took line rushes during warmups in place of an injured Ross Colton. When it was time for the Avs to submit the official lineup, it was Wood, not Landeskog, in for Colton.
Landeskog’s last NHL game since June 26, 2022, when he ended the night of Game 6 in the 2022 Stanley Cup Final by lifting the championship trophy.
“He’s a really good player,” Stars forward Mikko Rantanen, who spent parts of 10 seasons with the Avalanche, said Monday morning. “So when he comes back, we’ve got to be ready for him and adjust our game. Even though he’s missed a lot of time, he’s still a veteran guy with a lot of experience, so whenever he plays we’ve got to be ready.
Visit Advertiser websiteGO TO PAGE“He’s done so much work the last three years, almost three years, to come back. It’s been ups and downs and disappointments and excitement and back to disappointment. So to see him now do well and be back on the ice, I am happy for him.”
Colton took only one shift, which lasted 15 seconds, Saturday night in Colorado’s 5-1 win against Dallas. When asked how Colton was feeling Monday morning, Bednar responded, “not great.” When the Avs coach was pressed further on who might play if Colton can’t go, he said, “We’ll see. I haven’t decided yet.”
Landeskog practiced with the Avs throughout the week leading into Game 1, but did not play. He participated in the morning skate Saturday, but then stayed off the ice when the club had an optional practice Sunday.
The captain was back out there Monday morning ahead of Game 2.
“He’s kind of on his own page when it comes to when he goes on (the ice) and when he does not,” Bednar said. “He’s still building to the point of a return. (Landeskog and the team’s staff) are kind of living in the moment now. He’s getting close enough that every day they reevaluate.”
Landeskog has not played an NHL game in 1,030 days because of his issues with his right knee. It started with an accidental skate cut just above the knee during the 2020 playoffs inside the NHL’s “covid bubble” in Edmonton, Ontario.
He played through pain off and on throughout the next two seasons, culminating in winning the Stanley Cup in 2022. Landeskog has had a series of procedures since, including knee cartilage replacement surgery in May 2023.
The Avs captain will be the first player to have that procedure and return to NHL action when he finally does hit the ice. Lonzo Ball had the surgery in March 2023 and returned for the Chicago Bulls earlier this season.
Landeskog made his return to professional hockey two weekends ago in Loveland, playing two games for the Colorado Eagles during a conditioning assignment. He made an emotional return April 11, then had a goal and an assist the following night.
“I was happy to see him play (for the Eagles),” Rantanen said. “I watched his first game. He looked good out there. I talked with him after the game, and I was really happy for him. It’s been a grind for him, and he’s a good friend of mine, so I was happy to see him back on the ice.”
Landeskog and Fresh Tape Media have chronicled his recovery process with a docuseries, “A Clean Sheet,” which has aired over the past five weeks on TNT and can be streamed on Max. It was originally announced as a five-part series, but the fifth episode promised a sixth “TBD.”
It’s going to have quite the ending.
