Why Gabriel Landeskog should not return this season
The timeline for the Avalanche captain's recovery after knee cartilage surgery is a year.
Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog missed all of last season and will most definitely miss this one, as well. The projected recovery time after his knee cartilage surgery is a year — and his procedure was done on May 10, 2023. No one should expect him to hit the ice on May 11 back in full form, or even anytime this postseason.
Another professional athlete had the same surgery as Landeskog — Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo Ball. The 26-year-old had his surgery on March 20 last year and the team said it does not anticipate his return until next season. If he does suit up for the Bulls again, he'll be the first NBA player in league history to return after a cartilage transplant.
While basketball is a different sport than hockey, Landeskog has been skating and continues along his timeline for recovery as scheduled, according to head coach Jared Bednar. Although he could technically be "cleared" by May 10 to resume play, he will most likely not be in the lineup until next season — if he successfully recovers and his rehabilitation allows him.
"He's not going to come back too early. It's just not going to happen. Like he has a timeline that says you're not coming back before this date, doesn't matter how good you feel," Bednar said after practice on Sunday this week. "And we're sticking to that. It's his career, you know, so we're not going to play with that regardless of where we're at in a playoff series. And so that's number one. He will not come back before that date. And then he's got to get himself to the point, hopefully, that he can come back. You know, we don't have clarity on that."
The 31-year-old has been around the team off and on this season and will continue to support his team when he can. He still has months left in his rehabilitation process which may take him away from the team until he is ready to return full time.
Although the Swedish-born forward would be a huge asset on the ice to the team he leads, the bigger picture is what is at stake — and the organization is clearly not taking a chance on rushing him back into play.
His presence in the locker room and around his teammates is important as a leader, and he will keep at that role until he is ready to return to the lineup. Until then, he holds his place as a part of the team off the ice.
"Landy (Landeskog) leads in a different way. He's the voice of reason clearly dialed in a lot of areas and we have a bunch of really strong leaders that support — Nate (Nathan MacKinnon), Mikko (Rantanen), Cale (Makar) — in different ways, so it's nice to have that mix of leaders in your room so you're not missing out on anything. Everything, I feel like, is provided with our leadership group," Bednar said.
The Avalanche are slated to make the playoffs and with the new additions to the team, could go deep in the Cup run. There's no doubt Landeskog will be part of it, just not suited up on the ice.