Avalanche Captain to Play First Game Since 2022

The captain of the Colorado Avalanche will play his first professional game in nearly three years.

Jun 30, 2022; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Avalanche left wing Gabriel Landeskog (92) during the Stanley Cup Championship Celebration. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

It's been nearly three full years since Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog last played in a professional hockey game. He's not quite ready to return to the NHL lineup, but the 32-year-old will make his season debut with the organization's AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles.

The former Stanley Cup winner with the Avalanche has joined the Eagles team as part of his conditioning assignment. It's the next step in a impossibly long process to get Landeskog back to the NHL. Over the past few months, he's ratcheted up his rehabilitation in an effort to return. He will now play up to three games with the AHL squad before the organization will make a decision on his readiness.

The Avs hope their captain will return to give them a boost in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Landeskog last played for the Avalanche in the 2022 playoffs, the year of Colorado's Stanley Cup run. Since then, it's been medical procedure after medical procedure, combined with patience and slow rehabilitation. At one point, it was uncertain if he would ever be close to returning, and now he's knocking on the door of NHL games. There's no plan to get him back before the postseason begins, but they'd love to have their leader back for another Cup run.

If he does return, he's aiming to be one of the premier power forwards in the NHL again. Over his 11 seasons with the organization, he's played in 738 games, collecting 248 goals, 323 assists, and 571 points. He's hit the 30-goal mark twice and the 20-goal mark nine times.

The Avalanche are staring down a first-round series against the Dallas Stars in a Central Division showdown. The Avs will face Mikko Rantanen, another key piece of their 2022 Stanley Cup team, and it will be the first time Rantanen faces his former team in the postseason. Colorado hopes their captain is leading the Avalanche in Game 1 of that series.

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