Colorado captain who hasn't played in NHL since 2022 has 'still got it,' MacKinnon says
© Dave Sandford/NHLI
By Ryan Boulding
NHL.com Independent Correspondent
3:09 AM
DENVER -- Gabriel Landeskog rejoined the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday and could play in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"I think it's exciting for us, because it may give us another option here when we get to the weekend and start playing playoff games," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "I got to make lineup decisions too at some point here, and we're talking about a bunch of different scenarios. So yeah, could be a ramp-up for Game 1. Maybe not. We'll just have to see how the week goes."
The 32-year-old forward and Avalanche captain was loaned to the Colorado Eagles of the American Hockey League on a conditioning assignment last Wednesday and made his AHL debut on Friday. It was his first game since June 26, 2022, when he had an assist in a 2-1 victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final to help the Avalanche win the Cup.
He finished the game Friday with two shots on goal in 14:49 of ice time.
"It was awesome," said forward Nathan MacKinnon, who was on site to see Landeskog return to play in the AHL. "I [didn't] know what to expect, obviously, but I thought every shift he looked better. I thought Game 2, he looked a lot better as well. He almost played 20 minutes or something like that. He's in a good spot. Hopefully he can keep progressing, and we'll have him back here this weekend."
In his second AHL game on Saturday, Landeskog had a goal and an assist and was named the First Star of the game.
"He's Gabe Landeskog at the end of the day, and, obviously, there's going to be some rust," MacKinnon said. "Three years is a crazy amount of time off, and he hasn't really been practicing that much either. We've just been so busy, there's been no practice -- which is too bad for him. But I think he looks great, and in game situations, you can still see those instincts are there. He's still got it, for sure."
After he had 22 points (11 goals, 11 assists) and finished with a team-high plus-15 in 20 playoff games in 2022, Landeskog missed the entirety of the 2022-23 season following surgery in his right knee in October 2022. Landeskog then opted for cartilage transplant surgery on May 10, 2023, which resulted in him missing the 2023-24 season and all of the 2024-25 season to date.
Landeskog previously had surgery on his right quad after suffering a laceration from a skate in the 2020 postseason, and knee surgery on March 21, 2022, prior to the playoffs.
“For Gabe, honestly, it is day by day,” Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland said Wednesday. “We're getting information every day to see. These are all new milestones for him, believe it or not. Something that, I think, he obviously didn't take for granted, but he played hockey, right, for many, many years, and now he's got to see how [he feels].
“He's coming off a very unique situation that he's had to deal with for three years, and what he's trying to do is incredible. … I didn't talk to him, but hopefully he's going to feel good after practice today and we'll see what tomorrow holds.”
The Avalanche (49-29-4) finished third in the Central Division and will visit the Stars for Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round. The Stanley Cup Playoffs begin Saturday.
If Landeskog plays in Game 1, it will have been more than 1,027 days between NHL games. Despite that, the Avalanche still see his potential return as major boost to the lineup.
"He's a guy who can play up and down the lineup and bring any type of game -- skill, hard, strong game, physical, whatever," forward Charlie Coyle said. "He can adapt and play whatever it calls for. He is hard to play against … just because he can play any situation, any type of game. He can out-skill you. He can outwill you. He can out-compete you. Those guys are hard to come by.
"You know the skill's there. They can make the plays. They see the ice. They have the shot. They can score, pass, whatever, but when you add compete and work ethic and the way he goes about his business, takes care of himself, like that's a pretty deadly combination."
Selected by Colorado with the No. 2 pick of the 2011 NHL Draft, Landeskog has 571 points (248 goals, 323 assists) in 738 regular-season games and 67 points (27 goals, 40 assists) in 69 playoff games.
