Welcome Back, Cap: Gabriel Landeskog Made His Triumphant Return to Avalanche Lineup

The Avalanche played three full regular seasons and went on two playoff runs without their captain in the lineup. After 1,032 days since his last NHL appearance, Gabriel Landeskog made his return, joining the lineup for Game Three of the First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

In his return, Landeskog played in five games, recording four points (1g/3a) along with 15 hits while logging 17:13 of time on ice per game. This is Landeskog’s seventh playoff run where he’s posted at least four points and 15 hits, the most in franchise history since hits began being tracked in 2005-06.

While the Ball Arena crowd erupted when Landeskog hit the ice for warmups ahead of Game Three, they were sent into a frenzy when he scored in Game Four.

"Obviously I've envisioned scoring again for a long time," Landeskog said after Game Four. "And then there were obviously days where I didn't know if I was gonna get to score again."

Joining Landeskog on the scoresheet that game was his long-time teammate Nathan MacKinnon, who scored in the same contest as the Avs’ Captain for the first time since Game Four of the 2022 Western Conference Final.

“There’s only one Gabe Landeskog in the world," MacKinnon said after Game Four. "That kind of person and player. We missed him. There was a big hole in our room for three years and it’s nice to have him back and it means the world to all of us.”

Entering the 2025-26 season, Landeskog has four years remaining on his contract. He’s 62 games from 800 and 29 points from 600.