The highly anticipated debut of Gabriel Landeskog after a three-year absence exceeded expectations. For the Colorado Avalanche captain, his return fulfilled so much for both himself and the droves of fans watching his every move.

While his return was short due to their Stanley Cup Playoff elimination, Landeskog and the Avalanche are heading into the 2025-26 season with full steam. As far as we’ve been told, Landy will head into the year with no sort of restrictions.

He’s finally eying a full season of hockey ahead for the first time since the 2021-22 season. The next few weeks and months will be crucial to see if there are any limitations for the captain.

With players slowly starting to trickle back into Family Sports Center for informal skates, Landeskog’s return will be one to watch. He’s surely working on his own elsewhere, enjoying his summer break. However, once he’s back in Denver doing the informal skates, more players are likely to return and follow in his footsteps.

At the same time, eyes will be watching the Swedish winger to see if there are any issues. Considering his five-game stretch against the Dallas Stars, there likely shouldn’t be.

The main concern will be his longevity and managing his knee over the course of a longer season. His back-to-back appearances with the Colorado Eagles were promising. Of course, the five high-energy games in the playoffs were also great.

But managing something over a stretch of months is another thing. Any sort of NBA-like load management could be a possibility if Landeskog needs it, but it seems unlikely.

The better question is, where will Landy fit in the lineup? He debuted in Game Three on the top line but swayed back and forth on the second line as well.

As of now, most of the top six remain the same for Colorado. Landeskog is part of said top six and should stay there. But if he needs more time on the bench to rest his knee during games, he could move down the lineup. Folks like Ross Colton or Logan O’Connor, when healthy, could fill the void in the short term.

No matter where he is in the lineup, Gabriel Landeskog is sure to put in a shift whenever he can. If he can be even half the player he could be, he’ll propel Colorado forward this season, especially when times get tough.