Avs make a roster move that points toward Gabriel Landeskog playing in Game 2

The last time Gabriel Landeskog played a game for the Colorado Avalanche, it ended with him lifting the Stanley Cup, and his return could be part of this year’s run toward a title.

On Monday, the Avs activated their captain from injured reserve, a hint that he may re-enter the team’s lineup after missing the last three seasons. They take on the Dallas Stars in Game 2 of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in Texas on Monday night.

Landeskog, 32, recently played two AHL games with the Colorado Eagles to get back into shape and has re-joined the NHL group as a regular in practice.

Gabriel Landeskog has been activated from Injured Reserve. pic.twitter.com/TNQ8Mphago

— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) April 21, 2025

Landeskog has been working his way back from a May 2023 knee surgery, which he hoped would repair an issue he suffered in September of 2020 in a game against Dallas. The experimental procedure has ended the careers of several athletes before him. Still, the Avalanche captain has never publicly talked about retirement. Instead, there’s been buzz about a comeback for years that has bubbled recently with a documentary being made about his journey that seems to indicate a positive ending.

Landeskog has said in the past that the injury only really impacts him when skating. He first suffered the issue when Cale Makar cut his knee during Game 6 of a playoff series against the Stars. Landy missed that Game 7, which was a loss, and came back to play 54 of the Avs’ 56 games in the COVID-shortened 2020-2021 season and another 10 in the playoffs. In 2021-2022, Landeskog played another 51 regular-season games before getting knee surgery. Landeskog returned for the playoffs, where he tallied 22 points in 20 games en route to the Avs’ first title since 2001.

If Landeskog returns on Monday, it’ll probably in place of Ross Colton in the bottom six. The forward suffered a lower-body injury during Game 1 and only played one shift in the third period. The Avs rode a great final frame to win that game 5-1, going up 1-0 in the series.

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