Colorado Avalanche face a new inflection point as Gabe Landeskog goes week to week
The Colorado Avalanche will be without captain Gabe Landeskog on Sunday afternoon against the Minnesota Wild, with the team listing him as “week-to-week” because of a lower-body injury.
What happens when the Colorado Avalanche lose their captain mid-stretch?
Landeskog’s absence comes immediately after he was injured Friday night in a 5-4 shootout win against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center. A team spokesman said Landeskog will not play Sunday, and the club designated him week-to-week.
The injury occurred when Landeskog took a shot from Cale Makar to the groin area. After the game, he showed reporters his athletic cup, which had a puck-sized dent in it. Despite the incident, he returned to the game Friday and logged 22: 54, finishing with an assist.
For the Colorado Avalanche, the timing is notable because Landeskog recently returned from an upper-body injury. He missed 14 games before the Olympic break after crashing into the net and end boards during a game in South Florida. He recovered in time to participate in the 2026 Winter Olympics with Sweden, then rejoined the lineup for the first six Colorado Avalanche contests after the break.
What if Landeskog’s week-to-week status lingers longer than expected?
The team has framed Landeskog’s situation as week-to-week, a label that acknowledges uncertainty without setting a firm return date. What is clear is that Landeskog had been producing during his comeback season, posting 29 points (nine goals, 20 assists) in 47 games. Since returning from the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, he has seven points (two goals, five assists) in six games.
Landeskog’s availability has been closely watched over multiple seasons. He missed three full regular seasons from 2022–25 due to right-knee problems, and underwent multiple surgeries, including a cartilage transplant on May 10, 2023. He had been sidelined for 1, 032 days since winning the Stanley Cup in Game 6 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Final before returning to play the Stars in Game 3 of the 2025 Western Conference First Round.
Sunday’s scratch, therefore, is not just a one-game lineup note: it interrupts a stretch in which Landeskog had been reestablishing his on-ice rhythm for the Colorado Avalanche following the Olympics and his earlier upper-body setback.
What happens when roster changes collide with an unexpected injury?
Landeskog’s injury arrives alongside a major roster development. The Colorado Avalanche are set to have Nazem Kadri in the lineup against the Wild for the first time since the 2022 Cup Final. Kadri signed a seven-year contract with the Calgary Flames shortly after the 2022 title run, but the Colorado Avalanche brought him back in a trade Friday just ahead of the deadline.
On the standings front, the Colorado Avalanche entered Sunday with a 42-10-9 record and were first in the Central Division, seven points ahead of the Stars and nine points ahead of the third-place Wild. The immediate test, though, is more specific: managing a game against a direct divisional opponent while their captain is unavailable, and doing it while integrating a significant returning piece to the lineup.
At puck drop on Sunday, the Colorado Avalanche were playing without Landeskog against the Wild, with the game scoreless five minutes into the contest.
