‘Nothing New to Report’: Bednar Provides Insight on Landeskog Situation

There is no breaking news on Gabriel Landeskog, let’s start there. We have all been waiting for it, but head coach Jared Bednar had nothing new to report. He did touch upon some other things for a bit more clarity surrounding the captain.

With the trade deadline approaching and only 25 games left in the regular season, it’s nearly crunch time. The team’s revolving roster because of extensive injuries and other personnel changes has been challenging, which has made Landeskog’s unknown return more impactful.

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“No change, really, or nothing new to report on Gabe’s situation,” Bednar said. “I’m sure that does have an effect on our thinking going into the deadline and what adds that we could make, or that we would pursue. I try to stay out of most of that stuff and coach the team. So, it’s not really my question, but I’m sure that has something to do with it.”

Landeskog traveled with the team to Canada before the 4 Nations break and to the media’s knowledge, he was not in Montreal for the best-on-best games.

He has not officially practiced with the team. He has skated with players at some morning skates but nothing integrated enough to imply he will be returning soon.

“That’ll be up to Gabe and our medical team when he or if he’s going to be able to come back. There’s only seven weeks left, so he’s working hard,” Bednar said. “He’s still trying to get better and get to a spot where he thinks he can play, and we’ll see if he’s able to accomplish that in the regular season, or if it’s going to take till playoffs, or if we’re going to have to go a certain length of time in the playoffs to get him back, or even if he’s going to be able to get back this year, I don’t know. It’s just kind of wait-and-see and keep putting in the work. And, yeah, we’ll hope for the best.”

The 32-year-old Swede has missed the last two seasons and undergone a knee cartilage replacement procedure but has yet to return to competition. He said (with a laugh) he planned on returning sometime “between mid-September and the start of April,” before the season began. “I feel pretty good about it.”

Since it was a rare surgery for a professional athlete there was not much of a baseline to determine an exact recovery and return timeline for the elite forward. But as the end of the season closes in, the hope to see No. 92 in the lineup dwindles as each day passes.