The past week has been very telling for the Colorado Avalanche as we lead up to the start of the 2025-26 season. The Av’s Captain and NHL Veteran Gabriel Landeskog suited up for training camp, followed by the first preseason for the first time in three years From the fans to teammates, Landeskog entering the 2025-26 season fully healthy at 100% has been eagerly anticipated for a considerable amount of time since his injury.
Contingency plan? To play Captain Landy on the most efficient fitting line is going to take a considerable amount of time with having such a young and fast core. But so far in training camp, Landeskog has looked great coming off a lengthy three-year recovery after undergoing surgery on his chronically injured knee.
All of Landy’s linemates were able to see the positive light in his eyes that he is ready and excited more than ever to get back out on the ice and go to war. Colorado’s head coach Jared Bednar had some encouraging comments regarding Landeskog’s return with no lingering injuries holding him back this time around to begin the season.
” He’s feeling great, so he’ll be full-go, and I think we just have to monitor that and make our decisions like in the moment,” he said. “I’m not going to limit his minutes. I’m not going to sit him out games when he’s feeling good or take practices off when he’s feeling good. If at any point he comes to me, just like any other player, and he’s fatigued or he’s not feeling like he’s ready to practice for whatever reason, then we’ll play cautiously.” – Head Coach Jared Bednar
Gabe Landeskog will continue to wear the “C” and lead by example as he put on display during his first preseason game in several years against the Utah Mammoth that took place at Denver University’s Magness Arena. Landy immediately made an impact backing up his teammate and dropping the gloves for the first time since March 3, 2022, with Utah’s Sam Lipkin who caught Cale Makar with an elbow to the face on a reverse hit. Landeskog had no choice but to set the tone to show that he is willing to take to where it must go in order to protect his teammates.
After the game, Landeskog was very optimistic when mentioning how he felt about his return out there during the first preseason game this past weekend.
“There’s still ways to go. A little rusty, and there’s a lot to work on, a lot to get better at. I think preseason is kind of there for that, to find certain areas of your game and continue working on it in game action. I thought, overall, it was a step in the right direction. Body felt good, and it was a lot easier than the first day of camp, I will say that. It was good to be back out there.” – Gabriel Landeskog
Gabe isn’t as fast as he was 10 years ago, but he’s still got plenty left in the tank to be able to compete at a high level with one of the fastest and youngest teams in the league. Many fans believe that the Colorado Avalanche continues to possess a very talented roster with depth, and is very likely to make a deep playoff run, especially having the captain back to take charge.
Dante Robinson | Senior NHL Analyst for TheNSR Network
