Gabriel Landeskog arrived at Colorado Avalanche camp with a right knee that still requires attention, but the captain says it is closer to normal than it has been at any point since the NHL’s 2020 Edmonton bubble. For a club coming off a Presidents’ Trophy season and a painful Western Conference Final sweep, that is a major piece of the opening-week picture.
Landeskog, 33, believes he is ready to raise his level after a productive summer. He said the difference from a year ago is substantial, and that continued time away from the surgeries and setbacks has helped him regain strength.
The knee trouble dates to Aug. 30, 2020, when Cale Makar’s skate caught Landeskog during the pandemic-era playoffs. Landeskog played through the damage, helped Colorado win the Stanley Cup in 2022, then missed the following three seasons while navigating procedures, complications and doubts about whether he could return at all.
His comeback finally came in the 2025 playoffs, 1,032 days after his previous NHL game. He joined Jim Peplinski, Mario Lemieux, Uwe Krupp and Peter Forsberg as the only players with at least 700 NHL games who returned after being sidelined for 1,000 days or more.
Landeskog put up one goal and three assists in five playoff games on that return. Last regular season, he recorded 14 goals and 21 assists in 60 games, then added six goals and five assists across 13 postseason appearances.
He cautioned that his knee will never be entirely maintenance-free, but said it is now nearly comparable to a healthy joint. The captain’s goal is to make the kind of steady progress that appeared in flashes last season become a more dependable part of his game.
After the horn
Colorado has been trying to recapture the standard it set in 2022. The Avalanche fell to Seattle in seven games in the 2023 first round, lost a six-game second-round series to Dallas in 2024 and again went out against the Stars in a seven-game opening-round series in 2025.
Last season looked different for much of the way. Colorado went 55-16-11, a .738 points percentage that stood as the best in Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques franchise history. The club captured the Presidents’ Trophy while leading the League at 3.63 goals scored per game and allowing a League-low 2.40.
The Avalanche then swept the Los Angeles Kings and dispatched the Minnesota Wild in five games to reach the Western Conference Final. Their run ended abruptly when Vegas swept the series.
Makar missed the first two games against the Golden Knights because of a lower-body injury and was not at his usual level in the final two contests. Landeskog acknowledged that Makar’s condition mattered, but he did not frame it as the deciding explanation.
Instead, Landeskog said Colorado chose the worst possible moment for its poorest hockey. He noted that the Avalanche had consistently found ways to win through the regular season, only to make losing plays over those four games against Vegas. The captain expects that disappointment to produce a more urgent and driven group this season.
The path back to the playoffs now includes an 84-game regular season, up from 82. Landeskog credited coach Jared Bednar for dividing the calendar into smaller blocks and creating fresh team targets as the season moves along.
For Landeskog, the regular season is not something to dismiss, even if the ultimate objective is the Stanley Cup. Colorado must use those months to establish its game rather than expect to switch into playoff form after merely getting into the bracket.
There is also a personal perspective that comes with his return. Landeskog will play his fourth NHL outdoor game when Colorado visits the Utah Mammoth in the Discover NHL Winter Classic at Rice-Eccles Stadium. With children aged 7, 5 and 1½, he is looking forward to sharing an experience that some younger Avalanche players will be having for the first time.
After everything required to get back onto the ice, Landeskog said he no longer treats any NHL moment as routine.
Next puck drop
Colorado opens the regular season Sept. 30 against the Los Angeles Kings at Ball Arena in Denver. Faceoff is scheduled for 10 p.m. ET on HBO MAX, truTV and TNT.
The Avalanche will also visit Utah for the Winter Classic on Dec. 31 at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City. The outdoor game begins at 6 p.m. ET and is set for HBO MAX, truTV, TNT and TVAS.
