A pair of Washington Capitals players found their way onto Lady Byng Trophy ballots.
Goaltender Logan Thompson and defenseman Matt Roy each received a fifth-place vote for the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, which is awarded annually to the NHL player who best combines sportsmanship, gentlemanly conduct, and a high standard of playing ability. [Editor’s note: Typically, the trophy is awarded to the forward who records the most points and fewest penalty minutes.]
The votes earned Thompson and Roy one point apiece in the final balloting conducted by the Professional Hockey Writers Association, which RMNB is not a part of. They were among 94 players who received at least one vote.
The award ultimately went to Montreal Canadiens winger Cole Caufield, who collected 776 voting points to finish ahead of Los Angeles Kings captain Anze Kopitar (602) and Ottawa Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson (585).
Caufield prevailed in one of the closest Lady Byng races in recent memory. Four players received at least 20 first-place votes, but the Canadiens sniper appeared on 113 of 198 ballots and was the top choice of 45 voters.
The 25-year-old enjoyed the best season of his NHL career, scoring 51 goals and 88 points in 81 games while taking only seven minor penalties. Caufield became Montreal’s first 50-goal scorer since 1989-90 and finished second in the race for the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy.
2025-26 Lady Byng Trophy Voting
| Rank | Player | Points | (1st-2nd-3rd-4th-5th) |
| 1. | Cole Caufield, MTL | 776 | (45-22-25-13-8) |
| 2. | Anze Kopitar, LAK | 602 | (38-22-6-9-11) |
| 3. | Jake Sanderson, OTT | 585 | (28-25-18-11-7) |
| 4. | Zach Werenski, CBJ | 468 | (21-17-21-8-10) |
| 5. | Kyle Connor, WPG | 348 | (6-22-18-11-11) |
| 6. | Jack Eichel, VGK | 306 | (8-14-14-16-10) |
| 7. | Jack Hughes, NJD | 213 | (6-10-12-6-5) |
| 8. | Nick Suzuki, MTL | 209 | (13-3-5-9-6) |
| 9. | Mark Stone, VGK | 183 | (7-8-7-6-4) |
| 10. | Jean-Gabriel Pageau, NYI | 102 | (3-7-3-0-8) |
| 11. | Sam Reinhart, FLA | 102 | (2-3-5-9-9) |
| 12. | Mika Zibanejad, NYR | 96 | (1-1-9-8-10) |
| 13. | Jaccob Slavin, CAR | 88 | (4-3-3-3-3) |
| 14. | Jesper Bratt, NJD | 72 | (1-3-2-6-13) |
| 15. | Cale Makar, COL | 60 | (2-2-3-3-2) |
| 16. | Brayden Point, TBL | 59 | (1-1-3-7-6) |
| 17. | Sidney Crosby, PIT | 55 | (2-3-1-2-3) |
| 18. | Brock Boeser, VAN | 52 | (1-1-3-5-5) |
| 19. | Nikolaj Ehlers, CAR | 51 | (1-2-2-2-11) |
| 20. | Jared Spurgeon, MIN | 47 | (2-1-2-3-1) |
| 21. | Rickard Rakell, PIT | 44 | (1-1-4-2-1) |
| 22. | Teuvo Teravainen, CHI | 41 | (1-1-2-4-2) |
| 23. | Travis Sanheim, PHI | 39 | (0-1-3-5-2) |
| 24. | Matthew Schaefer, NYI | 38 | (3-1-0-0-1) |
| 25. | Denton Mateychuk, CBJ | 35 | (0-3-1-2-3) |
| 26. | Charlie Coyle, CBJ | 27 | (0-1-2-3-1) |
| 27. | Troy Terry, ANA | 25 | (0-3-0-1-1) |
| 28. | Mitch Marner, VGK | 24 | (0-2-0-2-4) |
| 29. | Sean Monahan, CBJ | 24 | (0-1-2-1-4) |
| 30. | Alex DeBrincat, DET | 23 | (0-1-1-3-2) |
| 31. | Jason Robertson, DAL | 20 | (0-1-2-1-0) |
| 32. | Jackson LaCombe, ANA | 19 | (0-2-1-0-0) |
| 33. | Ryan O’Reilly, NSH | 19 | (0-2-0-1-2) |
| 34. | Tyler Toffoli, SJS | 13 | (0-0-2-0-3) |
| 35. | John Marino, UTA | 12 | (0-1-0-1-2) |
| 36. | Esa Lindell, DAL | 12 | (0-0-2-0-2) |
| 37. | Leon Draisaitl, EDM | 11 | (0-1-0-1-1) |
| 38. | Macklin Celebrini, SJS | 11 | (0-0-2-0-1) |
| 39. | Patrick Kane, DET | 10 | (1-0-0-0-0) |
| t-40. | Matt Duchene, DAL | 10 | (0-1-0-1-0) |
| Connor McDavid, EDM | 10 | (0-1-0-1-0) | |
| 42. | Ryan Pulock, NYI | 10 | (0-0-2-0-0) |
| 43. | Emmitt Finnie, DET | 10 | (0-0-1-1-2) |
| 44. | Erik Karlsson, PIT | 9 | (0-0-1-1-1) |
| 45. | William Nylander, TOR | 9 | (0-0-0-3-0) |
| 46. | Vladimir Tarasenko, MIN | 8 | (0-0-1-1-0) |
| t-47. | Sebastian Aho, CAR | 7 | (0-1-0-0-0) |
| Josh Doan, BUF | 7 | (0-1-0-0-0) | |
| Elias Pettersson, VAN | 7 | (0-1-0-0-0) | |
| Devon Toews, COL | 7 | (0-1-0-0-0) | |
| 51. | Philip Broberg, STL | 6 | (0-0-1-0-1) |
| t-52. | Brent Burns, COL | 6 | (0-0-0-2-0) |
| Collin Graf, SJS | 6 | (0-0-0-2-0) | |
| Marcus Johansson, MIN | 6 | (0-0-0-2-0) | |
| Artturi Lehkonen, COL | 6 | (0-0-0-2-0) | |
| Colton Parayko, STL | 6 | (0-0-0-2-0) | |
| John Tavares, TOR | 6 | (0-0-0-2-0) | |
| t-58. | Lukas Dostal, ANA | 5 | (0-0-1-0-0) |
| Cam Fowler, STL | 5 | (0-0-1-0-0) | |
| Mark Scheifele, WPG | 5 | (0-0-1-0-0) | |
| Chandler Stephenson, SEA | 5 | (0-0-1-0-0) | |
| Jonathan Toews, WPG | 5 | (0-0-1-0-0) | |
| James van Riemsdyk, DET | 5 | (0-0-1-0-0) | |
| t-64. | Ivan Barbashev, VGK | 3 | (0-0-0-1-0) |
| Mikael Granlund, ANA | 3 | (0-0-0-1-0) | |
| Brandon Hagel, TBL | 3 | (0-0-0-1-0) | |
| Miro Heiskanen, DAL | 3 | (0-0-0-1-0) | |
| Filip Hronek, VAN | 3 | (0-0-0-1-0) | |
| Seth Jarvis, CAR | 3 | (0-0-0-1-0) | |
| Wyatt Johnston, DAL | 3 | (0-0-0-1-0) | |
| Martin Necas, COL | 3 | (0-0-0-1-0) | |
| Artemi Panarin, LAK | 3 | (0-0-0-1-0) | |
| Jonathan Quick, NYR | 3 | (0-0-0-1-0) | |
| Lucas Raymond, DET | 3 | (0-0-0-1-0) | |
| Shea Theodore, VGK | 3 | (0-0-0-1-0) | |
| Linus Ullmark, OTT | 3 | (0-0-0-1-0) | |
| Alex Wennberg, SJS | 3 | (0-0-0-1-0) | |
| 78. | Kirill Kaprizov, MIN | 2 | (0-0-0-0-2) |
| t-79. | Mikael Backlund, CGY | 1 | (0-0-0-0-1) |
| Filip Forsberg, NSH | 1 | (0-0-0-0-1) | |
| Filip Gustavsson, MIN | 1 | (0-0-0-0-1) | |
| Noah Hanifin, VGK | 1 | (0-0-0-0-1) | |
| Quinn Hughes, MIN | 1 | (0-0-0-0-1) | |
| Jordan Kyrou, STL | 1 | (0-0-0-0-1) | |
| Trevor Moore, LAK | 1 | (0-0-0-0-1) | |
| Jake Oettinger, DAL | 1 | (0-0-0-0-1) | |
| Victor Olofsson, CGY | 1 | (0-0-0-0-1) | |
| James Reimer, OTT | 1 | (0-0-0-0-1) | |
| Matt Roy, WSH | 1 | (0-0-0-0-1) | |
| Nate Schmidt, UTA | 1 | (0-0-0-0-1) | |
| Reilly Smith, VGK | 1 | (0-0-0-0-1) | |
| Logan Thompson, WSH | 1 | (0-0-0-0-1) | |
| Gabriel Vilardi, WPG | 1 | (0-0-0-0-1) | |
| Alex Vlasic, CHI | 1 | (0-0-0-0-1) | |
| Scott Wedgewood, COL | 1 | (0-0-0-0-1) |
(10-7-5-3-1 points allocation)
Caufield learned of the award in a surprise presentation inside the Canadiens locker room. He believed he was helping honor teammate Nick Suzuki for winning the Selke Trophy, only to discover that Suzuki was there to reveal that he had won the Lady Byng.
Thompson and Roy were the only Capitals players to receive votes. Thompson posted a 31-21-6 record with a .912 save percentage and a 2.44 goals-against average during his second season in Washington, leading the league in the goals save above expected (29.3). Thompson also recorded two assists and did not take a minor penalty.
Roy, a 31-year-old defenseman, appeared in 79 games Capitals after signing as an unrestricted free agent two summers ago. Roy posted 19 points (2g, 17a) while being whistled for 12 minutes in penalty minutes.
Former Capitals forward Marcus Johansson received two fourth-place votes and finished tied for 52nd, while former Capitals first-round pick Filip Forsberg tied with Roy and Thompson, receiving one fifth-place vote.
