CASTLE PINES – It’s no longer a question of if Gabe Landeskog will be back on the ice as captain of the Colorado Avalanche.

While the Avs won’t rush the date when he returns, it might be sooner than we have dared to think.

For the first time, Landeskog has the confidence to declare he will beat a freakish and frightening injury that has prevented him from playing hockey for more than two years.

“It’s not so much if anymore,” Landeskog said Wednesday, “it’s just more when.”

A gnarly scar on his right knee was visible for all to see as Landeskog played alongside Austrian pro Sepp Straka and Avalanche president Josh Kroenke in the pro-am of BMW Championship at Castle Pines Golf Club.

As Landeskog stopped on every hole during his round to sign autographs, when spectators weren’t yelling “Go Avs!” or “Please take a selfie with me” they were incessantly asking “How’s your knee, Landy?”

“It’s coming. It’s coming,” Landeskog told the peeps. “I don’t know if you will see me in Game 1 or 20, but it’s coming.”

That’s very good news, because I believe this is the gospel truth:

While Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar are the Hall of Fame talent that makes the Avalanche a legit contender to win a championship, Landeskog is the heart-and-soul leader that Colorado needs to make it actually happen.

I’m no doctor, but here’s the moment that made me believe a successful comeback from pain Landy has dealt with since being sliced by a skate in the 2020 bubble season is not only possible, but inevitable:

Nearly 800 uncertain, painful and frustrating days after hoisting the Stanley Cup, a winning smile filled the face of Landeskog as he ripped a golf ball high and long off the 12th tee on the course where the PGA at Castle Pines Golf Club.

“Did you get that one on video?” Landeskog asked a member of the media tagging along with the gallery.

The big shot of Landy is back.

Taking a moment on the back nine to toss a ball in the four-inch rough to watch it disappear in a sea of lush green grass, Kroenke told me: “I know one thing. You don’t want to miss the fairway and hit it here. But hockey players like Gabe seem to have the shot to get it out of this stuff a lot better than I do.”

Landeskog checked another box in his rehab by walking 18 holes for the first time since surgery in 2022, and if you’ve ever trekked the hills and valleys of Castle Pines, you know how this course can make a Fitbit faint from exhaustion.

“To have an injury like that involving a skate, on a human level you want to see him do what makes him happy. And that’s to play hockey,” Kroenke said.

“Each day that he can’t play with his teammates and be out there on the ice is a little bit of a knife in the heart. But we have to make sure we do right by him, because I think there were times over the last six, eight, 10 months where he wanted to come back, got pretty close and there was a setback where it just caused a delay. We almost have to keep the horse in the stable and control what he’s up to, so when he does come back, he’ll be 100 percent ready.”

After more than two years on the mend from an injury that required a cartilage transplant, Landeskog refuses to circle a date on his calendar for a return to game action.

“Setting timelines just sets you up for being disappointed, to be honest. So I’ve stopped. I’d like to get back sooner rather than later. But I need to feel good. And there’s boxes I need to check,” Landeskog said. He’s excited to report to training camp in September “and get after it.”

Again, I’m no doctor. But at this point, I don’t think it’s unreasonably optimistic to expect Landeskog will be wearing a burgundy and blue sweater on the ice for the majority of the Avalanche’s 82 regular-season games.

He has been gone so long, I don’t think folks will realize how much this team missed Landeskog until No. 92 gets back on the ice.

Heck, he has been gone so long, Captain Gabe might have to reintroduce himself.

For example: On that steamy night in Florida when Landy raised the Cup way back in June 2022, a little guy named Charles Tait was only 21 months old.

I found Young Charles kicking it with his grandfather and mom at the pro-am. You might well remember Ashley Tait-Wengert as a prep golf phenom that won the Colorado state championship three times.

Her son might be shy of his fourth birthday, but golf runs deep in his genes. Young Charles was on the course hunting autographs with a replica of a Castle Pines pin flag.

Coming off the 13th green, Landy spotted this boy with adorable blond curls, made a beeline to him and offered to sign his flag.

Young Charles, however, had other ideas.

With an eye for legit golf talent, the kid bolted straight for Straka.

“Yep, he’s the golfer you want,” said Landeskog, chuckling.

But Captain Gabe, as we all have learned, is no quitter.

Waiting patiently for his turn to sign, Landeskog asked Young Charles:

“You ever watch hockey? I’ll sign my number so you know who I am.”

Golf is a humbling game, eh?