Gabriel Landeskog confirms he's set to return after two-year absence

On Wednesday, Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog was participating at the BMW Championship Pro-Am and revealed some big news regarding his status for the 2024-25 season.

According to Corey Masisak of the Denver Post, Landeskog told a fan that he will definitely be playing for the Avalanche this season, but isn't sure if his return will be on opening night or Game 10 or 20 for example.

Landeskog also told reporters after the event that his return to the lineup is a matter of when, not if at this point, which is great news for the Colorado Avalanche. He went on to mention that he feels like he's made progress in his injury recovery over the last few months and will have testing done before training camp to see what the plan is for his return.

The Stockholm, Sweden native has missed the last two seasons due to a knee injury that has required three surgeries to this point. In the latter stages of the 2023-24 campaign, Landeskog returned to the ice and began skating with the hope that he could be of use to the Avalanche during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. However, the Avalanche were eliminated from playoffs in the second round at the hands of the Dallas Stars.

Having Landeskog return to the lineup will be a big boost to the Avalanche's top-six forward group. With the absence of Valeri Nichushkin until at least mid-November after re-entering the Player Assistance Program, Landeskog is poised to jump right back into the top-six and could play alongside Casey Mittelstadt and Artturi Lehkonen to start the season.

The Colorado Avalanche are going to be an interesting team to keep an eye on this year and will look take another step froward in 2024-25 as they begin their chase towards a fourth Stanley Cup in franchise history.