Landeskog healthy, ‘grateful for the opportunity’ with Team Sweden at Olympics
He’s had to wait a long time to get another chance with these Olympics being the first involving NHL players in 12 years.
“I remember in 2014 I thought we were going to get to do this in 2018 and then 2022, but you realize those opportunities don’t come around very often,” Landeskog said. “And now here in 2026, I feel very fortunate to get this opportunity again.
“It’s going to be a great couple of weeks. And we’re, we’re excited for the opportunity here.”
It wasn’t always a given Landeskog would be able to play in the Olympics again, or the NHL for that matter. He missed three full regular seasons from 2022 to 2025 for the Avalanche due to problems with his right knee, going through surgeries, including a cartilage transplant on May 10, 2023, and several setbacks. Part of that absence included missing 4 Nations Face-Off one year ago.
And then on Jan. 4 of this year, he sustained an upper-body injury and hasn’t played since, but he’s ready to go for Sweden, which opens the tournament against host Italy on Wednesday (3:10 p.m. ET; Peacock, USA, CBC Gem, SN, TSN, CBC).
“It’s a part of my story now,” Landeskog said. “I’ve been open and honest about some of the struggles along the way, and there were definitely days where I thought I wouldn’t be standing here, and there were days where I thought I’d have to retire and find something else to do for the rest of my life. But it’s something I’m always going to have as part of me and the challenges that I faced and whatnot.
“But I think I just come out on the other side feeling very grateful for the opportunity to play a sport again and do what I love doing and competing against the best in the world, and here’s another great example of that being at stake.”
It’s also given him a new outlook on life and hockey.
“Losses and tough stretches in hockey, a tough overtime loss, now I’m talking about NHL regular season, but they don’t feel quite as stressful as not knowing if you’re ever going to play hockey again.” Landeskog said. “It puts things in perspective for me. I’ve been able to spend great quality time with my two young now, three, growing kids. So, there’s a silver lining in that as well.
“So, just appreciate the little things a lot more. And I think before my knee struggles, it was, it was easy to get wrapped up into kind of the small things.”
Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson, who also played for Sweden in the 2014 Olympics, said having Landeskog back is a massive boost.
“He’s a fantastic person and a fantastic player,” Karlsson said. “He’s something on our team that we’ve been missing for a while. Being able to have him here, and for him to be able to be here and being able to participate and play up to the standards that he knows, that he feels comfortable with and happy with, is obviously huge.
“And like I said, he’s someone that’s been around for a long time and he’s that type of player and personality that, you know we on Team Sweden, appreciate and need.”
