Gabriel Landeskog

Lore & Background

Landeskog began his youth career in hockey playing for Hammarby IF. After a successful season for Djurgårdens IF in the J20 SuperElit, Landeskog debuted in Elitserien on 21 February 2009, in a game against Brynäs IF, which Djurgårdens IF lost 4–2. At 16 years and 90 days he became the youngest player in Djurgårdens IF's history, and one of the youngest to ever have played in Elitserien. He recorded his first point in Elitserien on 24 February, in his second game, a 2–2 tie against Skellefteå AIK.

Landeskog was initially drafted in the first round, third overall, by the Plymouth Whalers of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) in the 2009 CHL Import Draft. However, he never played for the team as his CHL rights were traded to the Kitchener Rangers on 3 August 2009. By the end of the 2009–10 season, Landeskog was third among OHL rookies in points (trailing Matt Puempel and Boone Jenner) and goals (trailing Puempel and Ivan Telegin). In the playoffs, Kitchener made it to the conference finals where they were eliminated by Windsor, and Landeskog was third overall on his team as well as the highest scoring rookie ahead of teammate Ryan Murphy.

On 24 October 2010 Landeskog was named captain of the Kitchener Rangers for the 2010–11 season. This announcement made him the first European captain in franchise history. During his final season before NHL draft eligibility, despite suffering an ankle injury which shortened his campaign to 53 regular season games, he led all Rangers with 37 goals and a plus-minus of 27. During the playoffs, Landeskog posted a team-high 10 points in a seven-game first-round series defeat to the Plymouth Whalers to end his junior career.

Landeskog was drafted second overall by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2011 NHL entry draft, behind Red Deer center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Upon being drafted, Landeskog tied Daniel Sedin and Victor Hedman as the third-highest Swedish draft pick in history. A few days later, the Kitchener Rangers dropped Landeskog from their roster in anticipation of him making the Avalanche out of training camp. After attending the Avalanche's training camp, Landeskog signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Avalanche that carried a base salary of $925,000 and an additional $850,000 signing bonus. Landeskog made his NHL debut on 8 October in the Avalanche's opening-night game against the Detroit Red Wings.

Reader's Guide

Gabriel Landeskog is the captain of the Colorado Avalanche, known for his leadership and two-way play. He won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 2012 and led the Avalanche to a Stanley Cup in 2022, despite playing through serious injury.

Did You Know?

• He became the first player in Avalanche franchise history to wear jersey number 92.
• Landeskog broke Peter Šťastný's franchise record for most shots on goal in a player's rookie season.
• He is the first Avalanche player since 1999 to win the Calder Memorial Trophy.