Many of the heavy hitters in the upcoming 2026 Winter Olympics have named their leadership groups for the upcoming tournament. Team Sweden has named its leadership group on Sunday for the event. Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog was declared healthy enough to play and give the captaincy for the games.
Tampa Bay Lightning defenceman Victor Hedman and Pittsburgh Penguins blueliner Erik Karlsson were named assistant captains. Hedman was the team’s captain during the Four Nations Faceoff after Landeskog was still recovering from a lengthy injury.
Gabriel Landeskog named captain of Sweden’s Olympic men’s hockey team
— DailyFaceoff.com (@dailyfaceoff.bsky.social) 2026-02-08T16:12:10Z
Gabriel Landeskog Named Team Sweden Captain as Leadership Group Announced
Landeskog returned for the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs after being shut down for two seasons. The captain’s status for the Olympics was up in the air until recently. He sustained an upper-body injury a 2-1 victory over the Florida Panthers. Landeskog crashed into the net and hasn’t suited up for an NHL game since then.
However, Sweden head coach Sam Halam had declared that Landeskog was given the al clear for the tournament. Halam revealed that he was ready to give Hedman the “C” once again. However, Halam couldn’t ignore the hard work of Landeskog in his journey back.
This event will be the first time that Landeskog will suit up for his native country. He last played for the Tre Kronor in 2019 at the IIHF Worlds, where the Swedes placed fifth. Landeskog was part of the silver-medal winning squad at the 2014 Winter Games.
What It Means
The Swedish team is hoping to make noise in this tournament, and they have one of their proven leaders back. When addressing the media, Landeskog’s teammates were grateful that he can play in this all-important event.
Sweden begins its tournament with a Group B game against host Italy at 3:10 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday. Group B also has Finland and Slovakia.
Main photo by: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images