Gabriel Landeskog isn’t close to returning. But the latest reports surrounding his recovery are being challenged.
Last week a couple of NHL insiders reported that Landeskog was unable to skate on consecutive days because of knee swelling. It started with a Daily Faceoff segment where Insider Frank Seravalli made the first report. It was later echoed during an ESPN stream by Emily Kaplan.
Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar denied those reports on Monday.
“The big issue is that when he decides to push the knee, he then has to take a step back because he’s immediately hit with swelling and the knee blows up. That’s not good,” Seravalli said on Daily Faceoff Live almost two weeks ago. “He hasn’t been able to consistently push it. Until we see a two or three-week stretch where he’s an everyday participant in practice, that’s how you’ll know he’s getting close.
“He’s not close to that, he’s not close to returning.”
Bednar didn’t elaborate on what keeps Landeskog on or off the ice on any given day but he simply responded with “no” when asked if there was any truth to the swelling issues.
