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NHL Notebook: Habs’ Suzuki wins Selke, Caufield wins Lady Byng
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Photo credit: © Eric Bolte-Imagn Images
Lane Golden
Jun 5, 2026, 18:00 EDTUpdated: Jun 5, 2026, 17:02 EDT
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Montreal Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki has won the 2025-26 Frank J. Selke Trophy, awarded to the NHL’s best defensive forward, the NHL announced Friday morning.
Suzuki edged out fellow nominees Anthony Cirelli of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Brock Nelson of the Colorado Avalanche for the honour.
This marks the eighth time a Canadiens player has won the award. Bob Gainey won it the first four times from 1978 to 1981, while Guy Carbonneau received the honour in 1988, 1989, and 1992.
Suzuki has been a key contributor for the Habs for seven seasons and helped the team reach the Stanley Cup Final in 2021. He endured a few down years with the club as they retooled, and he helped them return to the postseason last year.
This season, the London, Ont. native hit the 100-point mark for the first time, notching 101 points, including a team-leading 43 of them on the power play. His defensive acumen was on full display, as he led the team in plus-minus with a plus-37 rating, and won the sixth-most faceoffs in the league with 1449. He also played all 82 games and led Habs forwards with 20:49 of ice time per game.
During the regular season, he won 50.4 per cent in the faceoff dot, marking the second straight season that he won over half of his draws.
Suzuki’s efforts helped the Canadiens reach third place in the Atlantic Division. In the playoffs, he posted four goals and 16 points in Montreal’s run to the Eastern Conference final, where they ultimately fell to the Carolina Hurricanes in five games.
The award is voted on annually by the Professional Hockey Writers Association.

Cole Caufield wins the Lady Byng

The NHL announced that Cole Caufield has won the 2026 Lady Byng Trophy.
“The Lady Byng Memorial 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,” according to the league.
Caufield, 25, beat out nominees 38-year-old Anze Kopitar, of the Los Angeles Kings and 23-year-old Jake Sanderson of the Ottawa Senators, with 45 first-place votes.
The Canadiens forward had one of the more impactful campaigns in modern Habs history, being the first player for the club to hit 50 goals in a season since Stephane Richer in 1989-90.
In the regular season, he posted 51 goals and 37 assists for 88 points. He recorded six goals and seven assists for 13 points during the postseason, helping Montreal reach the Eastern Conference Final.
Over the course of six NHL seasons, the former 15th overall pick has 169 goals and 138 assists for 307 points in 368 career regular-season games.
The Stevens Point, Wisconsin, native played college hockey at the University of Wisconsin during the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons. In 2020-21, he led the NCAA with 30 goals and 52 points in just 31 games, which earned him the Hobey Baker Award as the top player in the country.
After a fantastic sophomore campaign, he signed an entry-level contract with the Canadens and joined them for their run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2021.
In international play, Caufield represented the USA twice at the World Junior Championships, helping them win gold in 2021. He was also part of the U.S. World Championship team in 2024.

Predators name Rob Blake executive VP of hockey operations

The Nashville Predators have hired former Los Angeles Kings general manager Rob Blake to be their next executive vice president of hockey operations, GM Chris MacFarland announced Friday morning.
“We are ecstatic to welcome Rob Blake to the Nashville Predators as our executive vice president of hockey operations,” MacFarland said in a release. “He brings a wealth of knowledge in management and I will rely on him to assist me in many areas across the department as we look to build a winning team in Smashville. I couldn’t think of a better person to join me and the organization on this journey.”
Blake, 56, expressed his excitement for the new challenge ahead of him in Nashville.
“My family and I are very excited to join the Predators franchise and would like to thank Chris MacFarland for his trust in me,” Blake said. “This is an organization with a great history and a very bright future, and I am thrilled to be a part of it. I am grateful to work with Chris, who is one of the best general managers in today’s game, and build something special here in Nashville.”
This will be Blake’s first job back in the NHL since he parted ways with the Kings following the 2024-25 season, marking the end of a seven-year tenure. Blake was part of the Kings’ retooling process in the late 2010s that brought them back into consistent playoff contention. However, four straight first-round losses to Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers led to a change in direction in Los Angeles, which included Blake’s departure.
MacFarland was hired on Tuesday, replacing Barry Trotz. The new duo will now map out a plan to get the Predators back into the postseason contention after missing the playoffs in back-to-back seasons.
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