NHL Announces 2024 Lady Byng Finalists

The NHL has announced the three finalists for the Lady Byng Trophy.

Toronto Maple Leafs superstar Auston Matthews, Vancouver Canucks forward Elias Pettersson, and Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin are all in the running for the award.

The Lady Byng Trophy is awarded “to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability.” Professional Hockey Writers Association members will decide who wins this year’s Lady Byng Trophy.

Matthews, 26, appeared in 81 games this season with the Maple Leafs, posting a league-leading 69 goals to go along with 107 points. Matthews also only received 20 penalty minutes on the season, which helps his case.

Matthews has been nominated for the Lady Byng twice. He finished second in 2019-20 and third in the 2020-21 campaign. Let’s see if he is successful the third time around this year.

Pettersson, 25, had another solid regular season for the Canucks in 2023-24, recording 34 goals, 89 points, and a plus-20 rating in 82 games. He also did well staying out of the box, posting just 12 penalty minutes on the season.

While Pettersson has had under 20 penalty minutes in all six of his NHL seasons, this is his first Lady Byng nomination. He is also the first Canuck ever to be a finalist for the award. Given his clean play all season, it is fair to argue that he has a good shot of winning.

Slavin, 30, had an impressive regular season with the Carolina Hurricanes. In 81 games, the left-shot defenseman had six goals, 37 points, and a plus-21 rating. Along with that, he had only eight penalty minutes. That is the fewest penalty minutes by all NHL skaters who played at least 1,600 minutes this campaign.

Slavin has garnered a reputation for being a hard but clean player to play against in his career. Due to this, he already has a Lady Byng Trophy on his resume, winning the award in 2020-21. He also finished second in 2021-22.

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The Hockey News, Roustan Media Ltd

This story was originally published May 4, 2024, 11:00 AM.