Avalanche’s Landeskog, Necas expected to be healthy for Olympics
Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar told Denver-based radio station 92.5 FM Altitude Sports Radio on Wednesday that forwards Gabriel Landeskog and Martin Necas should be healthy for their respective countries at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Italy.
However, neither player will be available for the team’s game against the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday night.
Per Coach Bednar on @AltitudeSR, both Landeskog and Necas should be good to go for the Olympics, but neither of them will play tonight for the Avs.
Landeskog will represent Sweden in Milano-Cortina, while Necas will play for his native Czechia.
Through 41 games in 2025-26, Landeskog has seven goals and 15 assists for 22 points. The Avs captain is playing his first full NHL regular season since 2021-22, after missing nearly three full seasons with a debilitating knee injury.
Landeskog has 255 goals and 338 assists for 593 points in 779 career regular-season games. He was taken No. 2 overall by Colorado in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. He also has 28 goals and 43 assists for 71 points in 74 career Stanley Cup Playoff games.
Before making his return to the Avalanche lineup in last spring, Landeskog’s last game was when he hoisted the Stanley Cup over his head following the Avalanche’s 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 6 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Final. That spring, Landeskog had 11 goals and 11 assists for 22 points in 20 playoff games.
The 6-foot-1 winger underwent arthroscopic knee surgery after winning the Cup in 2022, and setbacks forced him to miss the entire 2022-23 season, including the playoffs. In May 2023, the team announced he would undergo another procedure on his knee, a cartilage transplant, and would miss the entire 2023-24 regular season.
As for Necas, the 27-year-old has 22 goals and 40 assists for 62 points in 52 games this season. He signed an eight-year, $92-million contract extension just after the start of the 2025-26 campaign, a deal that will pay him an annual average value of $11.5 million through the 2033-34 season.
Now in his ninth NHL season, Necas, taken No. 12 overall by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, has 146 goals and 242 assists for 388 points in 493 games with the Avalanche and Hurricanes.
He also has 12 goals and 23 assists for 35 points in 66 career Stanley Cup Playoff games.
Necas was acquired by Colorado in a three-team trade with Carolina and the Chicago Blackhawks, a deal that saw Mikko Rantanen and Taylor head to the Hurricanes while Necas went to the Avs with Jack Drury.