The Gabriel Landeskog injury saga has been a wild ride for everyone involved. Ever since he got clipped by Cale Makar’s skate back in the 2020 NHL Bubble, he has never been his true self, and it’s impacted the team in negative ways. The captain missed three full regular seasons of hockey after he helped will the burgundy and blue to the Stanley Cup in 2022, but showed shades of his old self when he came back for the playoffs.

At Avalanche media day on Wednesday, head coach Jared Bednar said that his captain will be a “full go” to kick the season off.

Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar says twice that captain Gabriel Landeskog is “full go” this season. They’ll monitor him, but no restrictions. Great news. pic.twitter.com/ZDvOOOWx5P

— Will Petersen (@PetersenWill) September 17, 2025

“He’s feeling great, so he’ll be full go. And I think we just have to monitor that and make our decisions… in the moment… if he has any soreness or anything’s going on with him, and he needs a day here and there off of practice or even games, we’ll do that,” Bednar said.

In five playoff games last year, Landeskog didn’t seem to be bothered by his injury. He was a +4 on the ice while playing just over 17 minutes per game, and added a goal and three assists. He brought some much needed juice to the team behind the first line, and his appearance lit a fire underneath the Ball Arena crowd that made it a very difficult place to play for the Dallas Stars.

That was just five games, however. Now, he’s got to go through the grind of an entire 82-game NHL season along with the likelihood of another playoff run. Bednar said that his health will come first throughout the long grind.

“We’re looking at big picture stuff here for Landy, get him through the full entire season, have him feeling good, so he’s available come the stretch run and hopefully playoffs. And for me, that’s just going to be the communication between him and I and our medical staff. So right now, he’s full go,” Bednar said.

Communication has been the name of the game for Landeskog and the Avs medical staff throughout this whole five year journey. There were times where it appeared that he was close to a return, then something would happen and they would take a few steps back. The last thing the franchise needs is for Landeskog to not communicate how he’s feeling and overworking himself towards another injury.

Bednar also harped on the fact that the 32-year-old will not be on a minutes restriction to start the season, but things could change if the captain starts to feel some soreness.

“I’m not going to sit him out with games when he’s feeling good, or [have him take] practices off when he’s feeling good… If at any point he comes to me, just like any other player, and he’s fatigued or he’s not feeling like he’s ready to practice for whatever reason, we’ll play it cautiously,” Bednar said.

Landeskog has looked good in some voluntary skates throughout the offseason as well. This is a great sign for Avalanche fans to kick the season off. Health issues have plagued this team ever since they won the Cup, but starting the season off with good news like this is a sign that the captain has enough left in the tank to help lead his team to the mountaintop once again.