Gabriel Landeskog spent three seasons on the outside of the NHL looking in, and that stretch changed the way he sees everything about the game.
The Colorado Avalanche captain missed three years because of a devastating knee injury, cutting him off from the routine he had built over more than a decade: the practices, the road trips, the locker room, the late nights, the goals. What felt like a brutal interruption at the time now looks different to him. Landeskog says the absence gave him something he might not have gained any other way.
“It’s a valuable experience to go through before you get to retirement,” Landeskog told reporters at the annual NHL/NHLPA Player Media Tour in Las Vegas. “For me, it was eye-opening and important for me to realize that.”
He returned to the Avalanche for their first-round playoff series against the Dallas Stars in 2025, his first NHL action in three years. This past season was his first full regular season since 2021-22, and it gave him a chance to settle back into the daily rhythm of an NHL career he had been separated from for so long.
Landeskog admitted that the time away altered his mindset in a major way. The highs still matter to him, and so do the results, but he no longer takes any part of the job for granted.
“I’ve already won, playing with the house’s money,” Landeskog said.
That outlook has made even the grind feel different. The long days, the hard practices, the travel, the losses that can wear on a player over time - he values all of it now.
“I’m enjoying everything that comes along with the great game,” Landeskog said.
He also said his wife once joked that when his career ended, he would spend a couple of years doing nothing. After living through an unexpected three-year version of retirement, he knows that won’t be his path.
“Understanding and realizing how blessed you are to be doing what you want,” Landeskog said. “I’m not done yet.”
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