Avalanche’s Nathan MacKinnon wins Lady Byng Trophy for sportsmanship and ‘gentlemanly conduct’

Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon won the NHL’s Lady Byng trophy, given to the player who “exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability” over the past season. Its the first time MacKinnon has won the award, and the the third time an Avalanche player has won it. The Lady Byng Memorial Trophy is voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association.

MacKinnon beat out fellow finalists Ryan O’Reilly of the St. Louis Blues and Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs. He received votes on 132 of 170 ballots, including 64 first-place selections, in collecting 984 voting points.

In addition to the Lady Byng trophy, MacKinnon is a finalist for the Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award, and for good reason given his statistics throughout the 2019-20 season. MacKinnon ranked fifth in the NHL with 93 points in 69 games (35 goals, 58 assists), 43 points more than his next-closest teammate. This production helped lead the Avalanche to the playoffs for the third straight year. He also placed among the top 10 in the League in power-play points (4th; 31), assists (6th; 58), power-play goals (t-6th; 12), goals (9th; 35) and power-play assists (t-10th; 19), while topping the NHL in shots on goal (318).

Most salient to his winning of the award was a career-low 12 penalty minutes, the second-fewest among the top 25 scorers in the NHL. No other forward averaged more time on ice (21:13) in 2019-20 while taking fewer penalties in the league.