Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog is expected to miss the entire 2023-24 NHL season due to a procedure on his right knee.
The 30 year old Swedish forward is set to undergo a cartilage transplant in the hopes of saving his NHL career. Landeskog missed all of the 2022-23 season after undergoing surgery in the summer of 2022.
The former Kitchener Ranger was instrumental in helping the Avalanche win the franchise’s 3rd Stanley Cup in 2021-22 recording 22 points in 20 games. Unfortunately he hasn’t been able to hit the ice since his second procedure last October.
According to Landeskog, the injury originally dates back to the 2020 season when he was sliced by a skate blade against Dallas. That injury is believed to have caused lasting damage to the cartilage around his patella.
Avalanche GM Chris MacFarland told members of the press that “He’s a massive piece for us, obviously on the ice and players like him don’t grow on trees…He’s a massive piece for our organization in so many ways. We want to help him to get the situation right so that he can resume playing.”
Across 738 NHL games, all with Colorado, Landeskog has amassed 571pts (248G, 323A) while serving as the franchise’s captain since his age 19 season. However it’s been the postseason where he’s shone the brightest, racking up 67pts (27G, 40A) in 69 games as he’s helped guide the Avs to several deep post season runs.
“It’s been a long road up to this point, but I’m hopeful and I’m optimistic and confident that eventually we’ll come out on the other side of this. But we haven’t quite gotten past it yet obviously,” said Landeskog at an April news conference.
Originally projected to miss only 12 weeks, the native of Stockholm, Sweden is now potentially facing 2 years on the sidelines.
Former Ottawa Senators blue liner Marc Methot took to Twitter after learning about the latest setback for Landeskog and wrote “I had the same surgery performed on my left knee. It’s a brutal rehab process and mine never recovered to a point that made skating at the NHL level possible. However, I do wish him well and hopefully he gets back to playing.”
While Landeskog remains optimistic he will one day return to the NHL level, he’s admitted that skating is “just a different beast” when it comes to his recovery.
The 6’1” 215lbs power forward plays a rugged game, and in the modern NHL where speed is emphasized, it’s unclear how much his latest procedure will hinder him upon return.
Landeskog will undergo the procedure on Wednesday May 10th at the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: 5of7. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.