News gets terribly worse on Gabriel Landeskog

This is not what you want to hear. Peter Baugh of The Athletic has reported on Friday that Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog is not expected to play before March.

Landeskog’s recovery from arthroscopic knee surgery in October has gone slower than anticipated, and he is likely to only start skating again after the All-Star break.

It is expected that Landeskog will need at least a couple of weeks beyond the break before he gets up to speed after such a lengthy absence.

This is terrible timing for the Avalanche and general manager Joe Sakic, who will need to acquire help on front ahead of the March 3rd trade deadline.

The Avs have been linked to Vancouver Canucks’ Bo Horvat, Chicago Blackhawks’ Jonathan Toews and St. Louis Blues’ Ryan O’Reilly. The latter could reunited with the Avalanche. The 31-year-old forward kicked off his career with the Avs in 2009-10, spending six seasons there before he was traded to the Buffalo Sabres back in 2015. O’Reilly could welcome a return to Colorado, but he lacks the no-trade protection so he could end up anywhere. O’Reilly is currently playing the final season of a seven-year contract with an average annual value of $7.5 million. However, he is earning $6 million in actual salary, but $5 million of that was already paid out as a signing bonus at the start of the season. He’s eligible for unrestricted free-agent status on July 1.

A new plan will need to be set in motion with Landeskog’s latest update.

Before Friday night’s action, Colorado sat in fourth place of the Central division with 47 points, holding on to the last wild-card spot for the upcoming postseason.

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