Avs’ Gabriel Landeskog on track to return for playoff opener

Colorado Avalanche star forward and captain Gabriel Landeskog hasn’t played since undergoing knee surgery on March 14, but coach Jared Bednar told reporters Tuesday that Landeskog will be back.” with the group here this week” as a 29-year-old player. old is working on returning for the post-season tournament which begins next week.

Bednar offered a positive update Thursday when, according to the NHL’s website’s Ryan Boulding, he confirmed that Landeskog had skated Thursday and was on track to play Game 1 of the playoffs.

“Gabe is good,” Bednar remarked. “Take steps forward. He joined the team today, obviously, for skating, and the plan is still for him to be ready for Game 1.”

The Avalanche have already earned the best record in the Western Conference standings and home-field advantage going into the first three rounds of the playoffs. It is therefore believed that Landeskog will remain a spectator for the last two games of the regular season. Assuming that’s the case, he’ll enter the playoffs having registered 30 goals and 29 assists in 51 games.

Colorado forward Mikko Rantanen added that “everyone is excited to see the captain back” on the ice.

According to ESPN’s Tim Kavanagh, the Avalanche would face the Nashville Predators in the first round if the playoffs started today.