Avalanche loan Landeskog to AHL on conditioning stint

The Colorado Avalanche announced Wednesday they loaned captain Gabriel Landeskog to the AHL on a conditioning assignment.

Landeskog hasn't played in a professional game since helping the Avalanche win the Stanley Cup on June 26, 2022. He's been sidelined for nearly three years with a knee injury, and the future of his playing career has been on shaky ground ever since.

The 32-year-old first underwent knee surgery in March 2022 and missed the last 23 contests of the regular season before returning for Game 1 of the playoffs.

Landeskog went for another procedure in October of that year and was initially ruled out for 12 weeks, but he was eventually shut down for the entirety of the 2022-23 campaign.

The Swedish forward then received a knee cartilage transplant in May 2023, which prevented him from suiting up last season. No NHL player has successfully returned from that procedure, and it was his third surgery in a 15-month span.

Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar expressed hope in August that Landeskog would be able to return near the start of this campaign, but that didn't come to fruition. Landeskog, however, remained determined to finish his recovery and even joined Colorado on a road trip in March, though there was still no timeline for his return.

Landeskog initially suffered the long-term injury during the 2020 playoffs when a falling Cale Makar cut his teammate above the knee with his skate blade.

The veteran winger played through knee pain during the 2022 postseason but still ranked second on the team with 11 goals and fourth with 22 points in 20 outings while averaging 20:58 minutes of ice time per contest.

The Avalanche currently sit in third place of the Central Division with a 48-27-4 record. They lost in the first round of the playoffs in 2023 and fell in the second round last spring.

Three games remain on Colorado's regular-season schedule, beginning Thursday against the Vancouver Canucks. The AHL's Colorado Eagles, meanwhile, have five games left.

Landeskog has amassed 248 goals and 571 points in 738 career NHL games, all with the Avalanche. The club selected him second overall in 2011 and named him captain as a 19-year-old in 2012.

He's under contract for four more seasons at a $7-million cap hit.