The Colorado Avalanche are more than thrilled to have their captain Gabriel Landeskog in the clear with the awful knee injury he suffered following the 2021-22 Stanley Cup-winning season. He missed multiple seasons because of it but officially made his return during the 2024-25 postseason.
Despite his miraculous return to hockey, at least one person in Denver media, Mike Evans of 104.3 in Denver, is not impressed by Landeskog’s production this season.
Gabe Landeskog has been a DISAPPOINTMENT this season! #GoAvsGo #Avalanche @bstokley14 | @MikeEvans1043 | @markschlereth pic.twitter.com/3dBWY9TrOU
— Denver Sports 104.3 (@DenSports1043) March 3, 2026
On one hand, one of the arguments, about Landeskog’s salary and number against the cap, makes sense. You’d want your higher-paid players to be at the top of your statistics. However, one thing that nobody can blame the player on is injury. Landeskog missed 14 games due to an upper-body injury after he fell ribs-first into a goal post against the Florida Panthers on January 4.
The Avalanche are 34-4-7 with Landeskog in the lineup this season. He’s also had at least one point in 21 of 45 games this year. While that’s not the highest percentage in the world, it’s still something to note. It’s not as if Landeskog is a ghost on the ice.
He’s also fourth on the Avalanche in hits with 64–at the top of the second-tier list on the Avs. The top three in hits all have 120 or more hits, while Landeskog is the closest to that tier. He has been more than acceptably physical since returning to the ice, which is not something I would have imagined he’d be doing following such a long time without playing hockey. Even when he was testing his game out with the Colorado Eagles for two games, he was dominant with his physicality and his fight for the puck was consistent.
To come up with such a take by only acknowledging Landeskog’s stat totals is irresponsible. It shows that this person doesn’t know hockey. You cannot just look at a box score and make an accurate statement. You can take a few things away from it, but not the full picture.
Landeskog even made it to the Olympics in Milan, Italy, this year and performed well. That alone is incredible to represent your country at the Olympics. It’s even more impressive because many people doubted that Landeskog would even make it back from the injury.
I look forward to seeing what else Landeskog does for the remainder of the 2025-26 season and I expect him to be able to shut the doubters up going forward—not only this season, but for the rest of his career.
It’s safe to say that the people in the comments of the post above are roasting Evans for his take. Go check it out for yourself.