Gabriel Landeskog's return, Jason Robertson's injury, and other storylines that could shape Avalanche vs Stars playoff series

Get your popcorn ready; the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars are set to square off in a heavyweight matchup in the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Widely regarded as two of the best teams in hockey, though one will be heading home far earlier than they would have liked. That's how it tends to go with the divisional playoff format, which makes for some tremendous first-round series.

The two-seeded Stars (106 points) will have home ice advantage over the three-seed Avalanche (102 points), as Game 1 is set to go down on Saturday night at 8:30 p.m. EST at the American Airlines Center.

This is one of the more highly anticipated first-round matchups, so let's dive into the key storylines that could shape the series.

Storylines that could shape Avalanche vs. Stars

Gabriel Landeskog's return

The looming return of Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog is a massive storyline to follow in this series. Landeskog has not played an NHL game since Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals in 2022 against Tampa Bay.

The 32-year-old has been attempting to work his way back for three years now and made his return to professional hockey for the AHL Colorado Eagles last week. He registered two points (one goal, one assist) in two games, and more importantly, came out of it feeling good. Head coach Jared Bednar said on Friday that Landeskog will be an option to enter the lineup in round one against Dallas.

What an emotional and physical boost to the lineup that would be for the Colorado Avalanche.

Jason Robertson's injury

Unfortunately, Dallas received some bad injury news on Friday. Star forward Jason Robertson was officially ruled out for Game 1 and labeled week-to-week with a lower-body injury by head coach Pete DeBoer. It occurred in game 82 when Robertson took a hit from Nashville's Michael McCarron and immediately looked to be in some discomfort.

His absence creates a huge hole in the Stars' lineup, as the 25-year-old was their third-leading scorer, having racked up 80 points (35 goals, 45 assists) in 82 games on the season.

Dallas could be in big trouble without Jason Robertson or Miro Heiskanen to begin the series. However, they do have one of the deepest forward groups in the NHL, and they'll need that to show if they want to hang with the high-flying Avs.

Mikko Rantanen vs. his old team

Lastly, it's the Mikko Rantanen revenge series. After nine amazing seasons with the Colorado Avalanche, Rantanen was blindsided by a trade to Carolina, which eventually resulted in another trade to Dallas just over a month later. And of course, it all ends up in a first-round matchup against his former team.

The 28-year-old has struggled to find his footing after leaving Colorado, producing just 24 points (seven goals, 17 assists) in 33 games since the original trade. Dallas will need the star winger to step his game up another level, especially with the recent injury update on Jason Robertson. Rantanen has had plenty of playoff success in the past... with the Avalanche.