Jared Bednar shares official update on Gabriel Landeskog's surprise return.

Fans of the Colorado Avalanche were stunned on Monday when captain Gabriel Landeskog participated in drills with his teammates and remained on the ice for the entire length of a practice, a huge step in the right direction for a player that hasn't played in a National Hockey League game since 2022.

Landeskog has been out of action with a serious injury for an extremely long time and many, including myself, began to doubt whether or not a return to playing in the NHL was even possible at this stage. As it turns out, the good news didn't stop there with more positive updates coming from Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar after the team's practice.

According to Bednar, Landeskog will travel with the Avalanche on the team's upcoming road trip with the intent of giving him the opportunity to continue skating alongside his teammates at practice. This would appear to be yet another excellent sign that Landeskog is finally making meaningful progress after all these years, but it remains unclear just how close or far from a possible return he truly is.

"I thought he looked great in practice today," said Bednar. "He's making strides. Obviously this rehab is not linear... but he's still making progress and obviously feeling comfortable enough to come out and join the team for certain drills."

Bednar described the process as fragile, but having Landeskog travel with the team on a 3 game road trip will at the very least be a great morale boost for a team that has been without their captain for the better part of 3 years.

"Hopefully that continues and continues to grow and working to the point of a return but it's really hard to say," admitted Bednar. "Things are going great and it's really good to have him back out on the ice."

It would be one of the most improbable returns in recent memory, but Gabriel Landeskog seems determined to make the impossible a reality.