The NHL return of Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog will have to wait.

At least for now.

The Avalanche took the ice for warmups on Saturday night before their Game 1 series with the Dallas Stars, and Landeskog wasn’t out there. He’ll be scratched for at least this one, although head coach Jared Bednar made it clear on Friday that Landeskog was an “option” for this series.

It’s a bummer for Avs fans and Landeskog, but perhaps the organization wants him to return in Game 3 in front of a raucous crowd at Ball Arena. Or, maybe even sooner, with Game 2 being on Monday night in Dallas. Bednar wouldn’t tip his hand on Saturday morning on if Landeskog would play or not, instead telling the media “you’ll have to watch and see.”

Well, we watched, and the Avalanche will instead roll with guys like Parker Kelly and Joel Kiviranta as depth forwards. They’re both solid players, but they’re certainly not the captain. Clearly Bednar felt he wasn’t ready for playoff action just yet.

Gabriel Landeskog skated in his first competitive hockey games in nearly three years just eight days ago for the Colorado Eagles (the Avalanche’s AHL affiliate) up in Loveland.

It was obviously wildly encouraging he was able to get on the ice at all, especially in back-to-back games. Landeskog even scored a goal last Saturday night. He was then returned to the Avs from his conditioning stint and was present at every practice this week, including on Friday. He also took morning skate in Dallas on Saturday.

As you know by now, Gabriel Landeskog hasn’t played in a NHL game since Colorado won the Stanley Cup in June of 2022. He underwent multiple knee surgeries since then, including cartilage replacement in May of 2023.

His road to recovery has been a remarkable journey, but we’re going to have to wait a little longer to find out if he’ll officially make it back to the NHL this year.

It’s feeling that way, but until he’s out there for a pregame warmup and in the lineup, we’ll continue to standby.