Nick Suzuki wasn’t the only award winner from the Habs on Friday. The NHL announced that Cole Caufield has won the 2026 Lady Byng Memorial Trophy.
The award is given annually “to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability,” as selected by the Professional Hockey Writers Association. That’s a very subjective description, typically leading to a wide variance of finalists each year.
It’s the first time that Caufield has won the award or even been given serious consideration for it. He finished 34th in voting last year and 64th the year before.
Caufield played in 81 games this season for Montreal, while posting his first career 50-goal campaign. He was the first Hab in 36 years to accomplish that feat, while finishing second overall in goals behind only Nathan MacKinnon. Meanwhile, he only took seven minor penalties, matching his total from the year before.
The other finalists for the award were Anze Kopitar and Jake Sanderson, who were second and third respectively. Suzuki, meanwhile, finished eighth in voting. Writers voted for five players on each ballot with points being 10 for first place, seven for second, five for third, three for fourth, and one for fifth.
Caufield finished with 776 points overall, consisting of 45 first-place votes, 22 second, 25 third, 13 fourth, and five eighth, appearing on 113 of 198 ballots overall. Kopitar had 602 points and Sanderson 585. Suzuki had 209, picking up 13 first-place votes (fifth-most), three seconds, five thirds, nine fourths, and six fifth-place selections.
Caufield becomes the third player in franchise history to win the award. The others were Mats Naslund (1987-88) and Toe Blake (1945-46).