Following last night’s announcement of the 2018-19 Selke Trophy nominees, the NHL has now released the names of the three nominees for the 2018-19 Lady Byng Trophy.
Up for the award this season are Florida Panthers forward Aleksander Barkov, St. Louis Blues forward Ryan O’Reilly and Calgary Flames forward Sean Monahan. If that sounds familiar it’s because both Barkov and O’Reilly were nominated for the same award last season, but lost out to Vegas Golden Knights forward William Karlsson.
The Lady Byng Trophy is awarded annually to the the “player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability".
Of the three nominees only O’Reilly has ever won the award before, claiming it in 2014. This season though, you have to figure that Barkov has the inside track. The Finnish forward with a Russian name potted an incredible 35 goals and 96 points while racking up just 8 (!!!) penalty minutes all season long. Incredible.
