We’re just over a third of the way through the NHL season, and the Colorado Avalanche are having a year to be remembered. The Avalanche are owners of the best record, and most points in the league at the time of this writing, with a 24-2-7 record and 55 points, a full 4 ahead of the Dallas Stars in second place. Nathan MacKinnon (58 pts, 28G 30A) and Cale Makar (40 pts, 10G 30A) are having career years as both lead their respective positions in points, and MacKinnon the entire NHL.

However, it’s Gabe Landeskog who still wears the “C” on his chest, and despite not having played outside of the playoffs in three years, much less 30+ regular season games, the veteran Swede only seems to be getting better as the season goes on. If the NHL had a “Comeback Player of the Year” Award, there probably wouldn’t be a more clear cut winner than him.

Landeskog didn’t have his first goal until almost a full month into the season. Though, part of that was the fact that he had two separate goals waved off in games in October.

However, since Nov. 9, Landeskog has had 6 goals and sits at 16 points on the season. While that’s a far cry from the lofty numbers his teammates are putting up, his presence on the ice has been felt up and down the roster. Landeskog started the season playing just around ten minutes a night and was even put in the bottom six, but has seen his ice time climb up to averaging over 18 minutes a night and a regular spot on the second line’s left wing. 

It’s yet to be seen whether or not the Avalanche lift any trophies at the end of this season, but the presence of Landeskog with the team certainly seems to be giving them some momentum to carry over into the end of the season.