Gabe Landeskog is expected to play for the Colorado Eagles this weekend

"When he says he’s ready to play, he’s gonna play," says Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar. There you have it. If all goes well, the Captain Gabe Landeskog, will be back for the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the Avs think he'll fit right in, "He's a gifted player. He's been on the ice a lot. I think getting like there will be some getting up to speed stuff, but I think he's going to be a good player for us. He's healthy enough to play and I'll just put him in the lineup," says Bednar

Avalanche forward Logan O'Connor adds, "There's obviously going to be a transition period for him and getting to his day to day routine down, you know, once he's rationing things up. So we're not concerned that he's going to be able to find that and get comfortable really quickly."

Challenges aside, Landy's return is remarkable. He missed three years of hockey after four knee operations. He had cartilage transplant surgery, something no NHL player has ever come back from and for the guys who have seen the struggle, they couldn't be happier, "He's had a rocky road and so it's exciting to see him kind of feel participating practices and hopefully continue on from there. But I know everybody's waiting for him in here and we just want to obviously have him make sure he's mentally ready and happy to have him back with the boys," says Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar.