Landeskog healthy, 'really excited' for Avalanche training camp

DENVER -- Gabriel Landeskog hasn't had this feeling in a while.

The Colorado Avalanche captain is healthy at the start of a training camp for the first time since 2021, hungry to pursue another championship.

"Really excited to just have an offseason in the bank now and going into training camp as if I'm just anybody else on the team," Landeskog said Wednesday. "It's nice to just come to work and try to play as well as I can to help the team win, right?"

After missing nearly three years due to a knee injury and subsequent surgeries, the 32-year-old forward returned to the lineup last season in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for Game 3 of the Western Conference First Round against the Dallas Stars on April 23. Despite not having 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 think the biggest change was probably just a little bit of a weight off your shoulders, right, and knowing that you were able to play," Landeskog said of his offseason. "There wasn't that constant question of, 'Are you going to be able to do this? Are you going to be able to play? Are you going to be able to play at that intensity that's required?'

"So, some of that has been lifted off my shoulders, but at the same time, it's the hunger to come back better, and the hunger to come back and still kind of (have) that chip on your shoulder of wanting to continue to get better, as an individual but also as a team, right? I think that fuels you, and it's been a good offseason."

Landeskog is expected to be ready for all the rigors of training camp and the season ahead, but there's a caveat -- managing his physical workload is part of Colorado's plan to ensure he'll be healthy come playoffs next April.

"He's feeling great, so he'll be full-go, and I think we just have to monitor that and make our decisions like in the moment," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "I'm not going to limit his minutes. I'm not going to sit him out games when he's feeling good or take practices off when he's feeling good. If at any point he comes to me, just like any other player, and he's fatigued or he's not feeling like he's ready to practice for whatever reason, then we'll play cautiously."

Landeskog said, "We don't really know what managing (this) exactly looks like over an 82-game schedule plus (playoffs), so it's going to be something we just continue working on as we go through the season. But I expect to be feeling good, and I expect to be playing, and I expect to be playing a lot. So, recovery and everything else that goes into this off the ice is going to be important, as it always is."

Landeskog, who has 571 points (248 goals, 323 assists) in 738 regular-season games, is an asset the Avalanche missed on and off the ice. He has been their captain since Sept. 4, 2012, when he became the youngest in NHL history to hold the role at 19 years and 286 days.

"He's one of a kind when it comes to his leadership ability, right? And his experience and what he's done with and for this organization," Bednar said. "The players have a ton of respect for him, as do the coaching staff, management group, everyone."

"Obviously, having 'Landy' back is huge," Colorado center Nathan MacKinnon said. "You just can't replace him. … (It was) just tough to compete without him the last few years."

And with his return to action behind him, Landeskog has shifted his focus to winning another championship.

The Avalanche play their season opener on Oct. 7 at the Los Angeles Kings (10:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVAS).

"The end goal is to win another Stanley Cup and hopefully win multiple, right?” Landeskog said. “I think that's why we keep doing this, and this is why we why we keep trying. … I didn't grind my [tail] off for three years to come back and just be a part of the team. You try to win, and we want to put another banner up in the building."