Watch as Martin Necas, Brett Pesce, and Jesper Fast score three goals in 3 minutes and 41 seconds to give the Carolina Hurricanes a massive momentum swing while on the road in Game 4 against the New Jersey Devils.
The Colorado Avalanche already know how tough life can be without their captain. Now, they’ll stare down that challenge again with the news Gabriel Landeskog is about to have another knee surgery that will prevent him from lining up for the Avs in the coming 2023-24 season.
Landeskog had arthroscopic surgery in October with the hope he’d return after about a 12-week recovery. That never happened and his status remained up in the air until, just before the playoffs, it was announced he would not be able to rejoin the Avs this season.
Now, with the 2022 Stanley Cup champions having been bounced by the Seattle Kraken in the first round, comes the news Landeskog will have the cartilage in his right knee replaced on Wednesday. The 30-year-old Swede — who also had surgery in March 2022, but recovered in time for the post-season — said the surgery has an 85 per cent success rate. For a man who’s been through the emotional and physical ringer in the past year, Landeskog sounded relatively upbeat about what’s ahead.
“I’ve done more studying in the last month than I have since high school,” he said, referencing all the reading he’s done and conversations he’s had with medical professionals about how to heal his knee. “It’s been a process, but at the same time, I feel confident in the decision and I’m excited to get going and excited to have the first step out of the way tomorrow morning.”
For as difficult as this situation has surely been on him, Landeskog said the idea of hanging up his skates has never entered the equation. “I have not contemplated retirement at all,” he said. “It’s just been a matter of finding the best path forward for me.”
It’s been nearly 12 months since Landeskog last suited up for the Avs. That was, of course, during the 2022 Stanley Cup Final last June, when Colorado dethroned the two-time defending-champion Tampa Bay Lightning thanks in large part to Landeskog’s 22 points in 20 playoff games. He was playing through pain then and obviously the surgery he had eight months ago wasn’t sufficient to repair his damaged knee.
Landeskog said the memory of that Cup-winning night — and the desire to have another like it — is more than enough motivation for him to keep pushing forward. In terms of more specific support, though, he’s also leaned on NBA player Lonzo Ball. The Chicago Bulls point guard has battled similar knee troubles and just had the cartilage replacement procedure performed about two months ago.
“It was nice to talk to somebody that has gone through the same thing and same frustration regarding the injury,” Landeskog said. “Some days you feel like you’re making a little bit of progress, but then you get a reminder that you’re not really that close. It’s just nice to be able to relate to somebody that’s gone through it before.”
Although Landeskog does not expect to play in the regular season next year, he did not close the door to skating in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. “I would just say it’s too early to tell,” he said of that possibility.
Avs general manager Chris MacFarland spoke in glowing terms of both the person and player Landeskog is. And while his team is surely gutted not to have the stud left winger coming back next fall, MacFarland does at least know he’ll be without Landeskog for the duration of the year, unlike last season when there was flux around his possible return.
That certainty, if nothing else, will make summer roster maneuvering a little easier in terms of knowing Landeskog’s $7-million cap hit can be placed in long-term injured reserve.
“It potentially opens up avenues that weren’t available to us this past season,” said MacFarland, while in the same breath acknowledging there’s no replacing Landeskog.
Known as a legendarily competitive player, Landeskog said he’s got no delusions about how hard the road ahead of him is. That said, he also fully expects to one day be the same No. 92 Avs fans have come to adore during his 12 years with the team.
“When you do come back, for me, I know it’s not going to be perfect right from the get go and I you know it’s a long time away from the game,” he said. “But I’m confident in the player I am, I’m confident in the athlete I am and I know that I can get myself ready and I know with the right guidance and with the right people around me, I’m confident I’ll get back out there and make a big impact on the ice.”
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