Gabe Landeskog earns a rare double, winning both the Bill Masterton and Mark Messier awards

Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog added an unusual set of trophies to his summer. The NHL announced that Landeskog was named the winner of both the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy and the Mark Messier Leadership Award for the 2025-26 season, a pairing that ties perseverance and leadership together in the league’s end-of-year honors.

The Masterton Trophy recognizes the player who best exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. It also includes a financial component, with the Professional Hockey Writers Association awarding a $2,500 grant to the Bill Masterton Scholarship fund in the winner’s name. The Mark Messier Leadership Award, in contrast, is centered on leadership qualities to a team, on and off the ice, during the regular season, as well as a player’s role in his community growing the game of hockey.

Landeskog’s path to these awards has been defined by his return to the Avalanche after missing multiple seasons’ worth of NHL regular-season action. The Avalanche captain was nominated for the Masterton after returning and playing through what the NHL described as an extended absence from 2022-23 through 2024-25. In 2025-26, he recorded 35 points on 14 goals and 21 assists in 60 regular-season games and added 11 points on six goals and five assists in 13 Stanley Cup Playoff games, according to the NHL’s team release.

Leadership was the other side of the equation. The NHL noted that Landeskog completed his 14th season as captain in 2025-26 and ranked as one of the league’s longest-tenured captains, trailing only Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin. It also pointed to Colorado’s regular-season record while he dressed, which the NHL reported as 45-7-8, compared with a 10-9-3 mark when he did not.

There is also a specific piece of historical context: the NHL stated Landeskog became the first player in NHL history to win both awards over his career, and the first to capture both in the same season. That matters because the awards are typically discussed in different lanes, one emphasizing resilience and dedication, the other emphasizing leadership and community impact. Winning both in the same year means voters saw the same player delivering on both fronts simultaneously.

For the Avalanche, the recognition lands as a seal on what was already an exceptional team picture. Colorado won the Presidents’ Trophy in 2025-26, the league’s best regular-season record, and Landeskog’s return and steady presence fit into the same story of continuity and standards that championship contenders build toward all season long.

Looking ahead, Landeskog’s double is a reminder that the captaincy is not simply a ceremonial label. It is also a measuring stick for how a franchise re-centers identity after injury setbacks, and how a star-level veteran stays connected to the dressing room. Expect Colorado to lean on that blend of authority and example as the offseason transitions into another training-camp cycle.

The only caveat here is interpretive rather than factual: individual trophies do not predict next year’s production by themselves. Still, the league’s criteria, and the way it framed Landeskog’s combined perseverance and leadership, makes the announcement difficult to separate from the broader standards the Avalanche will want to maintain as roster decisions and preparations continue.