Avalanche Captain Gabriel Landeskog To Miss Second Straight Season Due To Knee Surgery

The Colorado Avalanche will be without captain Gabriel Landeskog for two straight seasons.

Landeskog — who hasn't played a game since he hoisted the Stanley Cup in 2022 — will undergo knee surgery that will sideline him for the entire 2023-24 NHL season.

The team said the procedure will transplant cartilage into the 30-year-old Swede's right knee.

That same knee kept Landeskog out for the entire 2021-22 season as well. He received arthroscopic surgery over the summer following the Avs' Cup win, which, at first, was only supposed to cost him part of the season.

The Avalanche still had a solid regular season, but it was clear that he was one of the key pieces missing come playoff time. The defending champs — who were also the top-seeded team in the Western Conference — were eliminated by the Seattle Kraken in 7 games.

Landeskog wasn't the only piece missing during that series against Seattle. Val Nichushkin missed games for "personal reasons." Andrew Cogliano missed time after being boarded by Jordan Eberle. Even Cale Makar missed a game due to suspension.

If there's an upside – even a small one — it's that the Avalanche know they'll be Landeskog-less before free agency. Putting him on LTIR should clear some space that they can use to make up for his absence.

There's a pretty solid crop of options at left wing, although some may be too expensive. Some possible options could be Tyler Bertuzzi, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Timo Meier, or James Van Riemsdyk.

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