As we mentioned yesterday, Colorado Avalanche Captain Gabriel Landeskog has returned to Denver and it sounds like it might be permanent. The 31 year old winger has been spending most of his time rehabbing in the Toronto area since having knee surgery back in May.
On Saturday night, NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman indicated that the plan may be for him to get on the ice soon.
That doesn’t mean anyone should think he’s getting anywhere closer to returning to the NHL,” Friedman added. “I believe he does hope to resume some light skating soon, but that’s still to be determined.”
This is good news, and from everything I’ve heard, rehab has gone very well. That being said, I hope everyone tempers their expectations a bit.
The Avalanche are still not expecting Landeskog to return in the regular season, and while they’re optimistic, a return in the playoffs might even be asking too much. Landeskog’s last NHL game was game six of the Stanley Cup Finals back in 2022, so him returning to NHL action during the most intense time of the year seems like a stretch.
At the end of October, Landeskog discussed the challenges he’ll face when he does get back on the ice.
“I look forward to hitting the ice soon, but it’s a long road ahead,” Landeskog said. “I’ve missed a lot time, and even before this surgery, I had created some bad habits when it came to my skating technique that I need to shake off and new techniques to be learned, and learn to use the correct muscles in the correct way. So it’s a long way to go, but I look forward to the journey, and eventually I will be able to share more of what I have been going through.”
So yes, it’s great news that Landeskog will potentially start skating in the near future, but that’s just the beginning of the next step in his recovery. The Avalanche would love to get their Captain back this year, but they’re also heavily invested in his future, seeing as how he’s still got five years left on his contract after this season. It’s best that he takes his time as opposed to rushing back for a playoff run.
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