Landeskog healthy, excited to play ‘right off the bat’ for Avalanche

DENVER -- Gabriel Landeskog will do something Tuesday he hasn’t done in four years.

For the first time since Oct. 13, 2021, the Colorado Avalanche captain will be in the lineup for their season opener against the Los Angeles Kings at Crpto.com Arena in Los Angeles (10:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVAS).

The 32-year-old forward missed three full regular seasons due to a knee injury and multiple surgeries -- including a cartilage transplant May 10, 2023 -- and enduring setbacks.

"I was probably a little bit more tense and nervous the night before training camp, to be honest, [and] the first day at camp,” Landeskog said Monday. “But now, weeks into it, I feel good. I feel confident with where I'm at. Team feels great.”

Landeskog returned to Colorado’s lineup last season in Game 3 of the Western Conference First Round against the Dallas Stars on April 23. Although he hadn’t played since winning the Cup with the Avalanche on June 26, 2022, he finished the series with four points (one goal, three assists) in five games before Colorado was eliminated in Game 7.

“I'm excited, but I feel very much in control and calm and in the present,” he said. “I think training camp has been a really good lead-up for me. [Played] a couple preseason games.”

Now, as Landeskog enters new territory for the first time in years, there still may be some load management involved this season. It will mostly be based on how his body responds to his return to regular play.

“We're going to glean information on how he does in back-to-backs or three-in-fours or four-in-sixes and his practice schedule,” Colorado general manager Chris MacFarland said. “But we've got a pretty good grip on that, and I trust our staff and ‘Landy’ himself.

“So, the goal is to get him in as many games and keep him as healthy as possible. He's a really important player, so I think we'll glean that information as he does, how he feels, and we'll read and react off that.”

Landeskog, who has 571 points (248 goals, 323 assists) in 738 regular-season games, is equally excited to start the season on the road, believing it gives the Avalanche an early chance to bond.

“You get together with the team right off the bat,” Landeskog said. “We're able to eat dinner together tonight and get on the plane and kind of limit some of those distractions that sometimes a home opener can bring for you as a home team.”

The Avalanche fielding largely the same core from last season shouldn’t hurt either with a lot of early-season chemistry potentially already in place.

“I feel like our group is in a great spot; we're excited to start,” Landeskog said. “Getting off to a good start here will definitely help that, and I think winning just kind of accelerates things like that. We've got such a great group of guys in here that we all want to pull on this rope together and pull it in the same direction, and we're excited to start.

“It's not going to be easy. It's going to be a long season. There's going to be lots of ups and downs, but we want to make sure we have a fast start and get to our game as fast we can.”