The Colorado Avalanche has loaned captain Gabe Landeskog to the club’s AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles, for a conditioning assignment.
Landeskog will practice Wednesday with the Eagles, per a team spokesman, and there could be an update on his next step in the next day or two. The Eagles play Friday and Saturday nights in Loveland, the club’s final two home games of the season.
An AHL conditioning assignment for a player on long-term injured reserve can last for a maximum of six days or three games, but the Avalanche could also petition NHL commissioner Gary Bettman for an extension at the end of it.
Landeskog, who has not played since the 2022 Stanley Cup Final, has been skating regularly with the Avs for the past couple weeks and participated in an Eagles morning skate this past weekend when the Avalanche was on the road.
Avs coach Jared Bednar said Wednesday morning on his weekly radio show that this is the closest Landeskog has gotten in his attempts to comeback from four procedures on his knee, with the most recent being ligament replacement surgery in May 2023. No NHL player has had that procedure and returned to the league.
The 32-year-old captain has never played in the AHL, having gone straight from the OHL to the Avs after being the second pick in the 2011 NHL draft.
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