NEW YORK – Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, Colorado Avalanche forward Gabriel Landeskog and Winnipeg Jets forward Jonathan Toews are the three finalists for the 2025-26 Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, which is awarded “to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey,” the National Hockey League announced today.
The local chapters of the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA) submitted nominations for the Masterton Trophy at the conclusion of the regular season and the top three vote-getters were designated as finalists.
Following are the finalists, in alphabetical order:
Rasmus Dahlin, Buffalo Sabres
Dahlin’s spectacular season on the Sabres blueline was played with a heavy heart, but with the promise of a new one as well. While on vacation over the summer in France, Dahlin’s fiancée, Carolina Matovec, was struck by heart failure and spent several weeks on life support. Eventually, Matovec received a heart transplant that required months of hospitalization and rehab. Matovec later revealed she had lost the couple’s unborn child. Dahlin took a leave of absence for a week in November to attend her periodic medical checkups in Sweden, and returned both at Christmas and following the Olympics. Matovec was deemed healthy enough to join him in Buffalo in March. “That’s why he’s our captain,” Sabres forward Tage Thompson told Matthew Fairburn in The Athletic. “That’s why he’s a leader … Obviously, with what they’ve been going through this year, it’s the ultimate test for mental toughness to be able to go through that and still perform at the highest level and be a difference maker and still be a voice in the room and present here with everyone is pretty remarkable.”
Gabriel Landeskog, Colorado Avalanche
Landeskog missed three full regular seasons with knee issues after playing through injury during the Avalanche’s 2022 Stanley Cup run. He had four major procedures done, including knee cartilage replacement surgery in May 2023. He became the first player ever to return to the NHL after having that procedure done when he re-joined the Avalanche during the 2025 playoffs. If his comeback wasn’t remarkable enough, his first full season back included broken ribs after crashing into the net in January. “I don’t know if there’s a mode, but if you can go on NHL26 and build the captain, you just copy Gabe Landeskog,” Avalanche forward Parker Kelly told Corey Masisak in the Denver Post. “That’s what you’re going to build. He has it all, man. Just feel super lucky to play with him and super happy for him to get back in the lineup, do as well as he’s done this year, making an impact every night.” The Presidents’ Trophy-winning Avalanche went 45-7-8 when Landeskog was in the lineup and 10-9-3 when he was not.
Jonathan Toews, Winnipeg Jets
Toews returned to the NHL this season after an absence of two-and-a-half years, dealing with a variety of health-related issues, including long Covid and Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS), that have been plaguing him since 2020. Toews stepped away from the game at the end of the 2022-23 season, unsure what his future in the sport would hold. His return to health included traveling to India for Ayurvedic Treatment. Toews, 38, signed a one-year deal with his hometown Jets and ranked among the League leaders in faceoffs; his 62.1% winning percentage was tops among the 47 centers who took at least 1,000 draws. Toews reached double digits in goals for the 16th time in as many NHL seasons (11-18—29) and played 82 games for the first time since 2018-19. The three-time Stanley Cup champion also played a valuable role as a mentor. “I am very thankful for all of the struggles,” Toews told Paul Friesen in the Winnipeg Sun. “Because honestly, it is cliche but it’s where I’ve learned the most about myself. About hockey, about life and all of those things. So I’m thankful.”
Bill Masterton Memorial Scholarship Fund
A $2,500 grant from the PHWA is awarded annually to the Bill Masterton Scholarship Fund, based in Bloomington, Minn., in the name of the Masterton Trophy winner.
History
The trophy was presented by the NHL Writers’ Association in 1968 to commemorate the late Bill Masterton, a player with the Minnesota North Stars who exhibited to a high degree the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey and who died on Jan. 15, 1968.
Announcement Schedule
The series of NHL Trophy finalist announcements continues Tuesday, May 5, when the three finalists for the Calder Memorial Trophy will be unveiled.
