Gabe Landeskog is confident he’ll return … at some point.

When that will be remains very much to be determined. At one point during an end-of-season news conference sitting alongside general manager Chris MacFarland, the Avalanche captain asked when training camp for the 2024-25 season is going to start.

“Between mid-September and the start of April,” Landeskog joked. “I feel pretty good about it.”

Landeskog and MacFarland met with media members for nearly an hour Thursday. The Avs have some major questions this offseason, and when their captain can return after four procedures on his knee and missing the past two seasons is one of the biggest.

The timeline for Landeskog’s return had been quoted by members of the Avs organization as 12-16 months after the latest surgery, which was a knee cartilage replacement in May 2023. He reached the 12-month mark during the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs but wasn’t that close to returning when Colorado lost to Dallas in six games.

Landeskog said there were times during the playoffs when he felt mentally close, but the physical side was another story. He called it “laying the foundation” for a new skating technique for his surgically reprogrammed knee.

He also used “12-18 months” when discussing the recovery period.

“I’ve felt really good for two straight months now, physically, with no setbacks, minor or major,” Landeskog said. “Without sharing too much, it’s been a bumpy road. I knew that coming into it, but I didn’t realize how hard it was going to be, especially when you do hit those bumps and all of a sudden you’re off the ice for a month when you think you’re actually ramping it up.

“There’s no point in me setting a timeline or setting a benchmark for July 1 that I want to go at game speed … or whatever. You’re setting yourself up for disappointment with this stuff when it doesn’t happen.”

Landeskog moved his family back to Denver in December and continued his rehab process here after starting it in Toronto. He’s been around the team for much of that time, and was on the ice nearly every day during the playoffs.

He was doing lots of skating work on his own. When he was out with the team, it was usually in a tracksuit. The only day he took part in any organized drills was the morning of Game 6, but even then he was moving at a much slower pace than his teammates.

“Laying the foundation and playing in an NHL playoff game is very different,” Landeskog said. “I think the best decision was made for me to focus on what I was doing throughout the entire playoffs. As hard as it was and as much as I wanted to be out there, it was ultimately the best decision for my health. And I think long term for this organization as well.

“It’s just kind of a slow form of torture, I feel like. Win or lose, you want to be out there with the guys.”

Landeskog has five more seasons left on his contract with a $7 million annual cap hit. He was a fantastic player in 2021-22, scoring 30 goals in just 51 games and then adding 11 more in 20 playoff contests.

He remains an integral part of this organization — the reverence with which world-class players like Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Mikko Rantanen speak of him makes that obvious. Given how tight the Avs are against the salary cap ceiling for next year and the uncertainty with Valeri Nichushkin’s future, the team needs him back even more in 2024-25.

When and how that will happen is still not clear. But Landeskog’s determination to make it happen very much is.

“We can’t go and get a guy the caliber, player or the person that Gabe is,” Avs general manager Chris MacFarland said. “He’s a massive cog in what we’re trying to do. And he’s earned the right to have as much time as it takes to get back on the ice. Absolutely, it’s a cap challenge.

“It’s reality. So we’ll stay in touch with Gabe and continue to pull for him and then see where he’s at and glean more information. But definitely hopeful, and we’re going to be 100% behind him. Whether it’s September, October, November, whenever that day is, we’ll be super excited to see it that’s for sure.”

Footnote: MacFarland said Avs forward Artturi Lehkonen will have offseason shoulder surgery. When asked if Lehkonen will be ready for training camp, he said, “It will be close.” Everyone else (beyond Landeskog and Nichushkin) should be ready for camp.