Captain Nick Suzuki was named the Selke Trophy winner while leading goal-scorer Cole Caufield was awarded the Lady Byng Trophy, the NHL announced on Friday.
The Selke goes to the league’s best defensive forward, while the Lady Byng honours sportsmanship.
The Canadiens teammates surprised each other with the trophies in a video posted by the NHL.
Suzuki, a first-time finalist for the award, finished the season with 29 goals and 101 points — a career high — while also taking nearly a third of Montreal’s faceoffs at a 50.4 per cent success rate. He led all Canadiens forwards in ice time and was utilized on both the PK and defending at six-on-five.
He becomes the first Canadien to win the Selke since Guy Carbonneau in 1992, earning 151 of 198 first-place votes.
Caufield led the Canadiens with 51 goals, becoming Montreal’s first 50-goal scorer in 36 years, while taking just 14 penalty minutes — the fewest among 45 players with at least 30 goals.
He beat out three-time winner Anze Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings as well as Ottawa Senators defenceman Jake Sanderson for the honour in a tight race that saw four different players (also Blue Jackets defenceman Zach Werenski) receive at least 20 first-place votes. Caufield’s 45 first-place nods, however, led the way.
It’s Caufield’s first time winning the Lady Byng.
Together, Suzuki and Caufield led the Canadiens to the Eastern Conference Final, including seven-game series wins over the Tampa Bay Lightning and Buffalo Sabres, before being eliminated by the Carolina Hurricanes.
Both awards were voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association at the end of the regular season.
