Avs' Gabriel Landeskog wins Mark Messier, Bill Masterton awards

Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog won the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award and Bill Masterton Trophy, the league announced Tuesday.

The Messier is presented "to the player who exemplified great leadership qualities to his team, on and office the ice, during the regular season and who plays a leading role in his community growing the game of hockey."

The award receives input from team personnel and those around the NHL, with the winner ultimately being selected by Messier.

As for the Masterton, it is awarded to the player who "best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey." The Masterton is voted upon by the Professional Hockey Writers Association.

Landeskog, a left winger, is the third-longest-serving captain in the NHL behind Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby and Washington's Alexander Ovechkin, the NHL's all-time leading goal scorer.

The 33-year-old Landeskog, who has spent his entire career with the Avalanche, missed the 2022-23, 2023-24 and entirety of the 2024-25 regular season recovering from a chronic knee injury.

He returned to playing hockey in April 2025 as part of a conditioning assignment with the Avalanche's AHL club, the Colorado Eagles, before joining the Avs ahead of the 2025 playoffs.

In 2025-26, his first full season back with Colorado, Landeskog score 14 goals and 35 points in 60 games. He sustained an injury that led to him missing time in January and February, but he returned to captain Sweden's national team at the Olympics.

With Landeskog back, the Avalanche won the Presidents' Trophy with the NHL's best record at 55-16-11 and 121 points.

Colorado opened the playoffs with a sweep against the Los Angeles Kings and then beat the Minnesota Wild in five games before being swept by the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference finals.