Gabriel Landeskog‘s comeback now has some hardware to show for it, twice over. The NHL announced Tuesday that the Colorado Avalanche captain is the 2025-26 recipient of both the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy and the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award. The Masterton, awarded annually by the Professional Hockey Writers Association, goes to the player who “best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.” Landeskog beat out fellow finalists Rasmus Dahlin of the Sabres and Jonathan Toews of the Jets for the honor.
In keeping with recent tradition, the league surprised Landeskog with the trophy off the ice, and used his other award as the cover story. As detailed by NHL.com’s David Satriano, Landeskog sat down at his home for what he believed was simply an interview about winning the Messier Award. He was then handed an iPad containing video messages from his surgeon, Dr. Matthew Jordan, teammates Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, his wife, Melissa, and his father, Tony. When Landeskog turned around afterward, Melissa and the couple’s three children were waiting alongside a Hockey Hall of Fame representative holding the Masterton Trophy. “I’ve been very sneaky,” Melissa told NHL.com of keeping the secret.
The Messier Award, meanwhile, recognizes “the player who exemplifies great leadership qualities to his team, on and off the ice, during the regular season and who plays a leading role in his community growing the game of hockey.” Unlike the PHWA-voted Masterton, the Messier Award’s winner is selected solely by its Hall of Fame namesake. Landeskog, Colorado’s captain since September 2012, deflected the individual recognition toward his locker room, describing the Avalanche’s approach as “leadership by committee” in comments to NHL.com. His leadership résumé extended beyond Denver this season, he also captained Sweden at the 2026 Winter Olympics, recording four points in five games. He succeeds Alex Ovechkin as the award’s recipient.
The win closes the book on one of the more improbable returns in recent NHL history. Landeskog last played a full, healthy season in 2021-22, when he captained Colorado to the Stanley Cup while managing a deteriorating knee. He didn’t appear in another NHL game for nearly three years, undergoing four major procedures, including a cartilage replacement surgery in May 2023 that no NHL player had ever come back from. He ended that distinction himself in April 2025, rejoining the Avalanche lineup midway through their first-round series against the Stars after a brief AHL conditioning stint.
That return made him a Masterton finalist a year ago, though the award went to Sean Monahan. The difference this time: a full season of evidence. Landeskog posted 14 goals and 35 points in 60 games in 2025-26, and the production accelerated as the year went on. Per Evan Rawal of Colorado Hockey Now, Landeskog managed just four assists through his first 16 games before putting up 31 points over his final 44, a 58-point pace over a full schedule.
The 22 games he missed had nothing to do with the knee. Rawal notes Landeskog broke a rib crashing into the Panthers’ goalpost in January, then later lost additional time after taking a Cale Makar slap shot to the groin. Through it all, the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Avalanche were a staggering 45-7-8 with their captain in the lineup, compared to 10-9-3 without him.
Landeskog, 33, added 11 points (six goals, five assists) in 13 playoff games before the Avalanche were swept out of the Western Conference Final by the Golden Knights. The hardware wasn’t entirely off his radar; he admitted to NHL.com that the Masterton had crossed his mind at some point, though he had been led to believe the winner wouldn’t be revealed for a few more weeks. Characteristically, he treated the recognition as a shared one, crediting the long list of doctors, teammates, and family members behind his comeback, starting with Melissa and their three children.
Kudos, it’s a shame the injuries derailed his career or else the Avs would’ve had another Stanley Cup.
No question Landy is very deserving of both awards.