Jared Bednar has update on Gabriel Landeskog being around Avs

Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog has been rehabbing from his latest knee surgery in Toronto.

Landeskog, who’s out for this entire regular season after missing all of last year, is still the captain of the Avs though. Head coach Jared Bednar explained a couple months back why he made that decision.

And while it’s good for Landeskog to rehab on his own, not taking away the attention of Avalanche doctors from current players, there are times where it looks like the team misses his leadership.

They’re hot right now, winners of seven of eight after beating the Lightning on Monday night, but there’s been some rough patches. Colorado lost to Vegas 7-0 and St. Louis 8-2 in a span of four games. It’s the kind of thing that probably wouldn’t have happened if Landeskog had been around.

On Tuesday, though, Bednar passed along some good news about Landeskog. He’ll be back in Denver and around the team very soon.

“I think the plan is that he’s going to come back here, maybe this homestand in December to spend some time here,” Bednar told reporters.

When asked if that was “for good” or if Landeskog would head back to Toronto, Bednar wasn’t sure or not willing to say.

“I don’t know about for good. I don’t go that far ahead,” Bednar said with a laugh.

Bednar didn’t have an update on Landeskog’s progress, but the playoffs this year have always felt like a small possibility. It seems like that remains the case.

Landeskog hasn’t played since the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup in 2022, and his latest surgery was a knee cartilage transplant. It’s one that could have him back for the postseason, but also must be redone if something goes wrong in his rehab. ESPN laid out those two wildly different scenarios last month.

Regardless, the Avalanche miss their captain, but at 15-6-0 are also off to a great start. It’ll be nice to have him around, likely from Dec. 5 to Dec. 13 when Colorado plays five straight games at Ball Arena.