Likeliest Canadiens Award Finalists to Win in 2025-26

Needless to say, as much of an honour winning the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy would be for Montreal Canadiens forward Cole Caufield, it’s not the trophy on which he had an eye. Caufield, who last week was named a finalist for the award, which recognizes the player(s) who combine sportsmanship, gentlemanly conduct and playing ability, more significantly became the franchise’s first 50-goal scorer since 1990 (Stephane Richer) en route to a career-best season (so far).

Caufield missed out on the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy, which is awarded to the player who scores the most goals, by a handful of goals, having fallen short of league-leader Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche 53-51 at the end of the regular season. That was arguably the award he was seen as more likely to win before the season started.

Even then though, it was seen as a stretch that he would come close. That Caufield did is a testament to his skill, but also the strength of the 106-point team around him, which, maybe surprisingly heading into 2025-26, but justifiably ended up featuring more than one award finalist.

So, now having officially lost out on the Rocket Richard, will Caufield win the Lady Byng as a consolation prize? Not so much, based on this ranked list of the likeliest Canadiens to capture the awards for which they’re up, a still-impressive three in total:

3) Cole Caufield (Lady Byng Memorial Trophy)

Caufield may be a deserving Lady Byng winner in principle (just 14 penalties in minutes, for the record, combined with the aforementioned 51 goals). However, with Los Angeles Kings forward Anze Kopitar (10) retiring, this is his show as one of the other two finalists (Ottawa Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson; 8). Everyone else is just a spectator.

It’s at least possible Kopitar doesn’t actually capture his second-consecutive (and fourth-overall) Lady Byng. However, you have to believe he realistically has the edge in voting (by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association; PHWA). They tend to like easy narratives and feel-good stories. Kopitar going out on a high would undeniably be just that.

2) Ivan Demidov (Calder Memorial Trophy)

For the second straight season, the Canadiens have a Calder Memorial Trophy finalist after Ivan Demidov led the field in scoring. However, this time around, they’re unlikely to win a traditionally elusive second consecutive Calder for much the same reason Lane Hutson won it 2025, as a defenseman who put together a historically significant rookie season.

That isn’t to say Ivan Demidov won’t get his fair share of votes, after scoring 62 points. However, New York Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer, in scoring 23 to tie Anaheim Ducks forward Beckett Sennecke for the rookie lead (and New York Rangers great Brian Leetch for the most goals by a rookie defenseman in history; 1988-89) is the clear favourite. His 23 goals and 59 points meanwhile passed Phil Housley’s totals to set new high-water marks for rearguards before turning 19. Look for Schaefer, who will only turn 19 on Sep. 5,  to become the youngest Calder winner in history as a result (Nathan MacKinnon; 2013-14).

1) Nick Suzuki (Frank J. Selke Trophy)

Based on his career-high 101 points, which clears the point totals of the other two finalists by at least 36 (Brock Nelson, Anthony Cirelli), Nick Suzuki is the presumptive winner of the Frank J. Selke Trophy, which is awarded to the best defensive forward in the game.

Now, that statement doesn’t exactly make the case for Suzuki. Far from it. However, right or wrong, it’s come to be awarded to the forward who best combines defensive awareness and offensive ability. Seeing as the Canadiens outscored opponents 94-58 at even strength when Suzuki was on the ice, per the official NHL announcement on the identities of the finalists, he at least has a case.

Keep in mind, Cirelli’s 76-42 figure (64.4%) is better than Suzuki’s 61.8%, with the Lightning forward having notoriously made life extremely difficult on the Canadiens’ top line in Round 1. Meanwhile, Nelson played the most shorthanded minutes of his career (150:18) on the top-ranked Colorado Avalanche’s penalty-killing unit (84.6%). Montreal’s clicked at just 78.2%, with Suzuki playing a total of 57:51 shorthanded. Cirelli meanwhile totalled 186:51 on the third-ranked penalty-killing unit, which speaks further to how he may actually be the best defensive forward in the game, currently.

On the other hand, Suzuki’s 50.4% success rate taking faceoffs equalled Nelson’s, with Cirelli winning just 48.2% of his draws. Through the lens of Suzuki’s 100-point season, the first one any Canadiens player has put together since 1985-86 (Mats Naslund), that could serve as all the needed justification as to why he represents a happy medium between his two co-finalists, at least in the eyes of voters (PHWA members once again). With Aleksander Barkov having missed the entire season due to injury and Patrice Bergeron having retired, and both those players having accounted for the last five Selkes between them, clearly someone needs to take the mantle (or put the 2026 trophy on theirs). Suzuki will probably be the guy.

At the time this piece is being written, the Hart Memorial Trophy finalists will have yet to be named. That’s the last of the major trophies, and it’s inherently unlikely a Canadiens player will be among the three named as the league’s leading most-valuable-player candidates. However, for a team whose defensive issues heading into this season at least were considered as their primary obstacle to taking that next step, Suzuki, as arguably the league’s best defensive forward for 2025-26, is the Canadiens’ clear MVP. He and they just keep improving year-over-year, begging the question what they have in store for an encore.