Gabriel Landeskog’s return to pro hockey is going to give the Avalanche a huge emotional lift
The latest sign that Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog is nearing a comeback came Wednesday with the news that he has been assigned to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles on a conditioning stint.
Sidelined for the past two-and-a-half seasons due to a knee injury, Landeskog appears poised to return to the Avalanche ahead of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, nearly three years after he last played in a game and captained Colorado to its third-ever Stanley Cup championship.
On Wednesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton highlighted the emotional lift that Landeskog’s return would provide to the Avalanche.
Tyler Yaremchuk: You can debate about what he’ll have in the tank. I know halfway through this year when people were talking about a Jonathan Toews return and saying, ‘Whoa, you just expect him after two years off to jump into the lineup and make an impact?’ But, Toews played NHL games more recently than Landeskog has. Everyone seems to be forgetting that it will be very, very difficult, not just to jump into an NHL game, but to jump into a Stanley Cup Playoffs game. Regardless of if they’re using him in the top-six or the bottom-six, the emotional lift that this will give this Colorado team, even if you’re one of the newcomers because basically half of their roster is new this season, if you see the captain sitting in his stall after seeing everything he did to get back into the lineup, how are you not a little more fired up? How do you not have a little bit more juice knowing that that guy is in your lineup now?
Carter Hutton: You have to, and I think, just in general, knowing that he is so close is inspiring. You look at their additions. They’ve gone out and they’ve tried to make this team better because they know that they can win now. We’re not far removed from talking about Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and Landeskog, the ‘Big 3’ for Colorado. You add Brock Nelson, you add two goalies, they’ve just become such a heavy dynamic in Colorado. When you look at the West, we talk about Dallas, Winnipeg. But if you see Landeskog come out, I think there’s a mental psyche that goes throughout your team, and I’ve been in that situation. I remember when I was out one year and then Pekka Rinne coming back. You could feel the energy in our locker room. When you get star players back – or if Shea Weber was out of the lineup – or different players who I played with at times, if they were out, when then come back there is a weight lifted off of shoulders. I think that’s going to be important. This would be an extreme comeback because it has been so long since we’ve seen Landeskog.
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here: