Avalanche's Gabriel Landeskog Makes Bold Statement On His Future

Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog has been battling knee issues for the past two years, but the 31-year-old has finally made a bold statement about his return to the NHL.

"It's a matter of when, not if," Landeskog told The Denver Post’s Corey Masisak on August 21 , teasing an imminent comeback.

While the exact timing remains uncertain, with Landeskog himself unsure if it will be "Game 1 or 10 or 20," he sounded determined to return to the rink at some point throughout the 2024-25 season.

Landeskog last played in Game 6 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning when he helped Colorado hoist the chalice for the third time in franchise history. That game marked the Avalanche’s first Stanley Cup title since 2001 and a career-high for the Swedish forward.

Since then, however, Landeskog's career has taken a turn for the dark as he has undergone multiple surgeries, including arthroscopic knee surgery and a more severe cartilage transplant, sidelining him for the entirety of the 2022–23 and 2023–24 seasons.

"He’s trying to make a return here sometime near the start of the season, and if that goes well, it would be a really big boost for us," Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar told NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti on August 22. "So, that's something we're all a little anxious about, but really excited about as well. He hasn't played for us in two years."

Before his injury woes, Landeskog was a key member of the Avs, contributing 59 points in 51 regular-season games in 2021–22, and then 22 points during the team’s playoff run to the Stanley Cup.

With Landeskog out, the Avalanche have relied mostly on fellow star forwards Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. The former spoke about his teammate's absence at the end of last season.

"He’s our captain. The year we won, he was an animal out there," MacKinnon said in June . "I know he’s rehabbing and he’s got great people around him giving him good information.

"Just hoping and praying that he comes back next season. We miss him on the ice, off the ice. It’s tough to win without a guy like that."

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