Gabriel Landeskog publicly skated for the first time at an optional skate Thursday.

It’s been a season and a half without Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog but he hit the ice for the first time since undergoing knee cartilage replacement surgery eight months ago.

The 31-year-old forward announced that he would miss the entire 2023-24 season before he underwent surgery for a cartilage transplant in his right knee in Chicago on May 10. He was recuperating and rehabilitating outside of Colorado, most recently in Toronto following the procedure.

The Sweden native returned to Colorado in early December and has been around the team when they’ve been in town. 

He was on the bench yesterday for morning skate ahead of the matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights. He got on the ice albeit in slides and shorts to gather a few pucks for his teammates but it was a positive sign that his rehabilitation was on schedule. 

“There’s really nothing new. This has been part of the plan for quite some time — the next step in his process to start getting on the ice,” head coach Jared Bednar said. “I’m assuming and I don’t know for certain, it’s not going to be every day on the ice kind of thing. He’ll mix that into his rehab work and his gym work until eventually he’s hitting the ice every day. I think the biggest part of that is probably feels great for him.”

Although he is progressing and has been a positive energy around the team, Bednar said he will not be traveling with them on their upcoming five-game road trip. 

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