Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog won’t return earlier than May

It looks like the Colorado Avalanche’s captain might be out longer than expected.

On Sunday, head coach Jared Bednar told the media that forward Gabriel Landeskog will not return to the lineup before the team’s original target date, though he did not specifically confirm the date.

Landeskog received a cartilage transplant in his right knee on May 10 of last year, with the expectation that he could get back into game action in 12-16 months. Bednar says the Avs hope the 31-year-old can return “around there.”

Landeskog has not played since he helped Colorado win the franchise’s third Stanley Cup in June 2022. The Swedish star ended up missing all of last season following a procedure on his knee in October of that year. The original prognosis said that Landeskog was supposed to return in 12 weeks. Landeskog was eventually ruled out of the playoffs before receiving the operation in May.

The Avalanche had been public in the past that Landeskog could be back by the 2024 postseason, with more questions on when exactly he will come back as he began joining the team at practice for some individual work last month.

However, if Bednar’s comments hold true, the Avalanche will have to win at least one round in order for Landeskog to play at some point this season.

Colorado is certainly trying to make that a reality, as the team made a number of moves heading into the trade deadline in order to bolster their lineup.

General manager Chris MacFarland spoke to Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli back in January, stating the team was still “gathering information” on where Landeskog was at in his rehab.

Landeskog has played 738 games in his NHL career, scoring 248 goals and 323 assists, adding 67 points in 69 playoff games.