NORTH CHARLESTON, SC — Gabriel Landeskog is not expected to be fit for the start of the regular season, but it is possible that he will soon be back in uniform for the Colorado Avalanche.

The 31-year-old striker and captain of Colorado has not played in the last two seasons due to a right knee injury.

“He’s trying to get back here at some point early in the season, and if that goes well, that would be a big boost for us,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said Saturday at the 2024-25 South Carolina Stingrays Fan Fest at the North Charleston Coliseum. “So that’s something we’re all a little concerned about, but also very excited about. He hasn’t played for us in two years.”

Bednar, who spent 15 seasons as a player and coach with the ECHL’s Stingrays from 1995-2009 and lives in Charleston during the offseason, stressed that there is no specific timetable for Landeskog’s return but said he has been skating “a couple times a week” this offseason. Landeskog last played on June 26, 2022, when he had an assist to help Colorado win the Stanley Cup with a 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 6 of the Cup Final.

Landeskog underwent quadriceps surgery during the 2020 postseason and knee surgery in March 2022 and October 2022 before undergoing knee cartilage replacement surgery on May 10, 2023. Landeskog resumed skating during last season, and Bednar said in March that he could return during the Stanley Cup playoffs, depending on how far the Avalanche get.

Although that possibility was dashed when Colorado lost to the Dallas Stars in six games in the Western Conference second round, Landeskog did not give up hope, stating on May 23 that he planned to play this season, giving a broad time frame of “between mid-September and early April.”

Bednar said they are now more optimistic that Landeskog may be able to play in the first month or two of the season, but the timing is still up to him.

“He’s got to get back to feeling good enough to move on and take the next step,” Bednar said. “It’s been a long time now, so there’s no rush. It just depends on what he’s comfortable with. … Just what he’s done both in the gym and in training off the ice and on the ice gives us optimism that he can come back.”

Landeskog, Colorado’s No. 2 pick in the 2011 NHL Draft, has 571 points (248 goals, 323 assists) in 738 regular-season games and has scored at least 25 goals four times, including 30 in 51 games when he last played in 2021-22. He also has 67 points (27 goals, 40 assists) in 69 playoff games.

His return would potentially be a big win for the Avalanche, who will also begin the season without forward Valeri Nichushkin and possibly forward Artturi Lehkonen. Nichushkin is suspended until at least November after the 29-year-old was placed into Phase 3 of the NHL/NHL Players’ Association Player Assistance Program on May 13. Lehkonen is recovering from shoulder surgery he underwent during the offseason.

Bednar said forward Logan O’Connor, who is recovering from season-ending hip surgery, should be ready to start the season, but called Lehkonen “a question mark.”

“It’s going to be interesting at the beginning of the year because we’re talking about potentially three really good players that may not be able to start the season, that’s still to be determined,” Bednar said. “But I think it’s an opportunity for some young guys. We’ve got some guys knocking on the door of our team, so to speak.”