Just like Avalanche teammates, Sweden misses Gabe Landeskog: “He’s a guy you follow”

MONTREAL — The spectacle, the adrenaline, the extraordinary pace of play — it was everything Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Devon Toews dreamed of.

Canada defeated Sweden in overtime on Wednesday night, the first best-on-best men’s international game in nine years, at Bell Centre. The cathedral of hockey became a fitting scene for what will be a forever memory for a trio of Colorado Avalanche stars. It was their first chance to represent Canada at this level.

There were storylines all over the ice — MacKinnon’s first time playing with childhood hero-turned-friend Sidney Crosby in a game of international import, Avs teammates Makar and Toews getting to play together for their country — but one went untold.

They should have been playing against Gabe Landeskog.

“Gabe easily could have been their captain as well,” MacKinnon said of Sweden. “He’s not just our captain. He’s one of the top leaders in the NHL. He’s someone that I’m sure they miss. We miss him a ton. He has a lot of similar qualities as Sid — just an amazing human being and a guy you want to follow anywhere.”

Landeskog is currently in a race against time. The Avs have 25 games left in the regular season, and their captain is still desperately trying to return from knee cartilage replacement surgery.

He hasn’t played since NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly handed him the Stanley Cup in 2022.

“He’s a great player,” Edmonton Oilers and Sweden defenseman Matthias Ekholm said. “I love his tenacity. I love his grit. He’s a guy you follow. I could see him being on the first line for us. That’s a big miss for our national team. I just hope he gets healthy and he gets back.”

When he was on the ice with the Avalanche daily during the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, it seemed like a return might be imminent if the club could keep playing long enough.

Even then, in the final days of a second-round series loss to the Dallas Stars, the idea that Landeskog wouldn’t be playing right now, and therefore not an option for Sweden in this tournament, seemed far-fetched.

But “12-16 months” became “12-18 months” and then another open-ended timeline. It’s now been 21 months since the May 2023 surgery, which was the fourth procedure Landeskog has had to try and fix his wonky knee.

And it’s been 32 months since Landeskog last played in a game.

“He’s a great guy, a great player. He’s someone that would have been a staple on the team here,” Pittsburgh Penguins and Sweden defenseman Erik Karlsson said. “I’ve known him for a very long time now, since he came into the league. We’ve played for the national team together in quite a few tournaments. He’s a terrific guy. We’re all rooting for him.”

Landeskog came to North America early, spending two years with the Kitchener Rangers ahead of Colorado selecting him with the second pick in the 2011 NHL draft. The vast majority of Swedish players stay and continue their development with their home teams until it is time to come to cross the Atlantic.

Even with that, few players have loved playing for their country like Landeskog. He was an assistant captain for Sweden’s U-18 world championship team and an underage player at the U-20 World Junior Championships.

Landeskog wore an “A” on his sweater at the 2011 World Championships, even when he was just 19 years old and a few months ahead of Colorado, naming him as the youngest captain in NHL history at the time.

He won gold at the 2013 and 2017 worlds with Sweden and even joined his countrymen for the conclusion of the 2019 tournament after Colorado was knocked out of the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

“He’s played in so many international events, and I feel like he’s always a force for them,” Makar said. “To not be able to have him on our team and to not have him on Sweden for sure is sad. It’s been a long time.”

While the other Avs players are all celebrating their first chance to represent their countries in a best-on-best men’s event, this would have been Landeskog’s third for Sweden. He helped the Swedes win a silver medal in Sochi at the 2014 Winter Olympics and third place at the 2016 World Cup.

Landeskog should have been on the ice Wednesday night at Bell Centre. If he were the Swedish captain, he would have taken part in a spectacular pregame ceremony with legends Daniel Alfredsson, Teemu Selanne, Mike Richter and Mario Lemieux, plus current stars Crosby, Auston Matthews and Aleksander Barkov.

Instead, he was far away from here, still grinding away and hoping for a return to the sport he loves. The Avs miss him. The Swedes miss him. The sport misses him.

This tournament misses him. And it’s another mile marker in his career that’s been taken away from him.

Yet a flicker of hope for the storybook ending remains.

“That is going to make his comeback even more fun to be a part of and fun to watch and to be by his side for him,” Toews said. “It’s going to be such a big moment. It’s been almost three years of him trying to get back to where he wants to be.

“We’re all hoping for this year, and maybe that gives him a shot at the (2026) Olympics. I know he’s working hard. I don’t think he’s necessarily looking toward that or setting that as a goal. I think he’s just trying to get back and play for us and help our team. For his sake and for everybody’s sake, I hope that ends up with him being at the Olympics next year.”

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