It’s sounding more like Avalanche captain and Swedish Olympian Gabe Landeskog will captain Team Sweden at the upcoming Milano Cortina games.
There hasn’t been an official announcement from the Swedish front office, but that could be because of his current health status. Landeskog has not played since crashing into the goal post in a game against the Florida Panthers on Jan. 4. He’s missed the last 12 Avalanche games, and it’s still unclear if he’ll be healthy enough to play.
Although Pierre LeBrun of TSN believes Landeskog will be there — even if he doesn’t dress for Monday or Wednesday’s Avs games before the break. Landeskog resumed skating with the Avs during their road trip.
Over the past several weeks, NHL insiders on both TSN’s Insider Trading Segment and the 32 Thoughts podcast have noted, in passing, that Landeskog would captain Team Sweden at the Olympics if he goes.
Landeskog was one of the first six players named to the roster last summer. He received those honors after playing just five playoff games for the Avalanche following more than three years on the shelf with a knee injury.
Assuming he plays, it’ll be the second time that Landeskog gets to represent his nation on the big stage. In 2014, Landeskog, at 21 years old, was an assistant captain for Team Sweden. They made it all the way to the gold medal game before falling to Team Canada.
Along with Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Erik Karlsson, and Marcus Johansson, Landeskog is one of four Swedes returning from 2014.
