Montreal winger Cole Caufield has won the 2025-26 Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, the NHL announced Friday. The award goes “to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability,” per the league.Caufield finished second in the league with 51 goals, and he helped Montreal to a second consecutive playoff berth. Voters often look at penalty minutes when assessing gentlemanly conduct, and Caufield finished the season with only 14 penalty minutes. His previous best finish for the award was 34th last season.Four players each received 20-plus first-place votes for the Lady Byng, which the Professional Hockey Writers Association selects. Caufield was listed first on 45 ballots, beating out Los Angeles Kings captain Anže Kopitar, a three-time Lady Byng winner, and Ottawa Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson, who finished 10th in voting last season.Kopitar, who retired at the end of the season, notched 12 goals and 38 points in 67 games this season, helping his team go on a late surge to reach the playoffs before being swept by the Colorado Avalanche in the first round.
Kopitar, a highly-regarded center around the league, took only five minor penalties (10 penalty minutes) all season. In finishing second behind Caufield, Kopitar missed out on becoming the fifth player to win the Lady Byng at least four times, after Frank Boucher (seven), Wayne Gretzky (five), Pavel Datsyuk (four) and Red Kelly (four).Sanderson averaged 24 minutes, 50 seconds of ice time a game for Ottawa and had 54 points in 67 games, finishing with only eight penalty minutes. The Senators made the playoffs for the second consecutive season with him as their top defenseman, but they lost in a first-round sweep to Carolina.Caufield and the Canadiens reached the Eastern Conference finals before losing to Carolina in five games. His teammate, center Nick Suzuki, won the Selke Trophy as the league’s best defensive forward on Fas well.Jun 5, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms
