Gabriel Landeskog hasn’t played an NHL game in more than 1,000 days.
The long-time Colorado Avalanche captain hasn’t played since the Stanley Cup run in 2022. He’s dealt with a knee injury and the subsequent issues that followed that.
On Friday night, Landeskog took the ice in the AHL for the first time for the Colorado Eagles. He played about 15 minutes.
Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar made the trip to watch Landeskog suit up.
Landeskog was originally hurt during 2020, but never had his knee cartilage repaired until May 2023.
“I’m excited about what the future looks like for me,” Landeskog told the Associated Press.
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Landeskog, 32, hopes to be activated for the first game of Colorado’s first-round playoff series. The Avalanche are the No. 3 seed out of the Central Division.
“I have high expectations of myself. I’m also realistic in knowing what I’ve gone through, and how much time is missed,” Landeskog said.. “I don’t want to look too far ahead. But I do know that I feel good today, hopefully I feel good tomorrow and we can keep working. I can keep practicing and we’ll see where it takes us.”
Landeskog broke into the NHL as a 19-year old for the Avalanche after being the No. 2 overall pick in the 2011 draft.
He has 248 goals and 323 assists in 738 career games for Colorado.
The hope is that there are more games to come for Landeskog, and they could arrive on a big stage very shortly.
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