Landeskog skates, could return to Avalanche on current 4-game road trip

CHICAGO -- Gabriel Landeskog skated with the Colorado Avalanche on Friday, and the forward is expected to play on the team's current four-game road trip.

Landeskog, who has been out week to week with a lower-body injury since March 6, and fellow injured forwards Artturi Lehkonen, Ross Colton (each upper body) and Logan O'Connor (offseason hip surgery) were all on the ice prior to the Avalanche playing the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Friday (8:30 p.m. ET; CHSN, KTVD, ALT).

"(Landeskog) seems to be doing really well," Bednar said. "Connor seems to be doing really well. They're all making progress, but we'll just check in with the medical staff and the player, make a plan for the day and then see what the next day looks like.

"We could hear at any moment that they're ready to go, it just won't be tonight."

Landeskog, the 33-year-old Colorado captain, last played on March 6 when he had an assist in 22:54 of a 5-4 shootout win against the Dallas Stars. He has 29 points (nine goals, 20 assists) in 47 games this season and seven points (two goals, five assists) in six games since returning to the Avalanche from the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.

Landeskog missed three full regular seasons from 2022-25 because of problems with his right knee and had multiple surgeries including a cartilage transplant May 10, 2023. He was sidelined for 1,032 days between winning the Stanley Cup in Game 6 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Final on June 26, 2022 and and Game 3 of the 2025 Western Conference First Round on April 23, 2025. 

On Jan. 4, he sustained an upper-body injury but recovered in time to play at the Olympics, where he had four points (two goals, two assists) in five games for Team Sweden, which lost to the U.S. in the quarterfinals.

Lehkonen, who was injured in the first period of a 4-2 win at the Los Angeles Kings on March 2 and did not return, has 42 points (19 goals, 23 assists) in 59 games this season. Colton was injured at 11:20 of the second period of Colorado's 4-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on March 10. He has 23 points (eight goals, 15 assists) in 60 games. O'Connor has yet to play this season.

After playing in Chicago on Friday, the Avalanche play at the Washington Capitals on Sunday, at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday and at the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday. 

"They're all on the road with us because they all have a chance to be back at some point," Bednar said. "This is one of our biggest road trips of the year. We could see guys as early as Sunday, some guys maybe not until later in the road trip. The goal would be to try to get them all in before we head home."

The Avalanche (44-13-10) are first in the Central Division, two points ahead of the second-place Dallas Stars. They will clinch a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs if they get at least one point against the Blackhawks.