Avalanche's Gabriel Landeskog to Miss 2023 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs with Knee Injury

The Colorado Avalanche will be without their captain during the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Colorado announced Thursday that forward Gabriel Landeskog will miss the entire postseason with a knee injury that cost him all of the 2022-23 regular season.

"We've explored just about every option at this point. ... I thought I was going to be ready to go the second half of this season," Landeskog told reporters Thursday. "... Moving forward we continue to explore options, but I felt like this was the decision I had to make at this point."

Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar told Bennett Durando of the Denver Post on Sunday that Landeskog would not return during the regular season. Prior to that, the team hadn't ruled out the possibility the veteran would suit up, and there was optimism he would appear in the playoffs.

"He's pushing himself to the limits of what he feels like he can do," Bednar told reporters Wednesday.

Landeskog underwent arthroscopic knee surgery in October and was given a 12-week recovery timeline. When he was reevaluated, it was determined that he would not return within the original timetable.

The 30-year-old spent much of the 2022-23 season rehabbing away from the team and didn't return to Denver until February. He had been skating in anticipation of a return to the ice but was never a full participant in practice.

Landeskog was a significant contributor for the Avalanche during their 2022 playoff run that ended with Colorado winning its first title since 2001, so this loss is massive for Bednar's squad. He tallied 11 goals and 11 assists for 22 points in 20 postseason games en route to lifting the Stanley Cup.

With Landeskog unavailable during the 2022-23 season, the Avs have gone 49-24-7 and sit second in the Central Division behind the Dallas Stars. Colorado has regular-season games remaining against the Winnipeg Jets and Nashville Predators before the playoffs begin Monday.

While Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen have excelled as expected this season, each notching more than 100 points, J.T. Compher, Artturi Lehkonen and Valeri Nichushkin have picked up the slack in Landeskog's absence.

The Avalanche will need the trio to continue producing at a high level in the postseason if they hope to make it back to the Stanley Cup Final without their captain.

Colorado has also been without star defenseman Cale Makar of late due to a lower-body injury, but he's expected to return in the postseason.