The Colorado Avalanche are crushing it this season with an incredible 32-4-7 record. With 71 points and scoring 76 more goals than they’ve allowed, they’re easily the NHL’s hottest team halfway through the 2025-26 season.
A huge part of their success? The comeback of team captain Gabriel Landeskog.
After helping Colorado win the Stanley Cup in 2022, Landeskog underwent knee surgery that kept him off the ice for almost three years. He made a brief appearance in last year’s playoffs, but this season marks his first regular-season action since April 2022.
The 33-year-old forward has been making up for lost time. He’s put up 22 points in 41 games, including an impressive run of 18 points in his last 25 games.
But now the Avs are facing a setback. Landeskog picked up an upper-body injury against the Florida Panthers on January 4th, and the team says he’ll be out for at least a few weeks.
Former NHL defenseman Erik Johnson, who played alongside Landeskog for 11 seasons and was part of that 2022 championship team, recently shared some insights about his old captain on Daily Faceoff LIVE.
“Having Gabe back is huge, both on and off the ice,” Johnson said. “He’s the best leader I’ve ever been around. There’s so much that goes into being captain that fans don’t see – stuff that fell on Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar’s shoulders while he was gone.”
Johnson highlighted how Landeskog’s presence extends beyond just game time. “It’s the team dinners on the road, the rookie parties, all the behind-the-scenes stuff that really brings a team together,” he explained.
The Avalanche’s dominant start has surprised even their most optimistic fans. With just four regulation losses heading into January, they’re on pace for one of the best regular seasons in NHL history.
The big question now is how they’ll handle their captain’s absence – and whether they can maintain this incredible momentum until he returns.
