Two players from the East-best Washington Capitals received consideration for the 2025 Lady Byng Trophy, awarded to the player adjudged to have “exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability.” Alex Ovechkin and Logan Thompson both earned votes for the award, which was presented to Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar on Thursday.
Kopitar takes home his third Lady Byng Trophy after also winning it in 2016 and 2023. No Capitals player has ever won the award since it was first handed out after the 1924-25 season.
The PHWA, which RMNB is not a part of, votes for the annual award.
The Lady Byng is one of the few individual trophies that Ovechkin has never won in his career. He received two first-place votes, one second-place vote, three fourth-place votes, and two fifth-place votes this year to finish 13th overall in the polling. He has previously finished as high as ninth for the trophy after the 2007-08 season.
Ovechkin finished his 20th NHL season with his 14th 40-goal campaign, recording 73 points (44g, 29a) in 65 games. The NHL’s new all-time leading goal scorer took just 14 minutes in penalties, all minor penalties. He has had fewer penalty minutes in only one other season in his career, the COVID-19-shortened 2020-21 campaign (12).
Thompson earned one fifth-place vote, finishing tied for 49th with 13 other players. The 28-year-old goaltender went 31-6-6 with a 2.49 goals-against average, a .910 save percentage, and two shutouts in his first season with the Capitals. He did not take a single penalty from his crease.
Kopitar is the third player this century with at least three Lady Byng Trophy wins. The others are Pavel Datsyuk (4) and Martin St. Louis (3). Kopitar received 50 first-place votes after notching 67 points (21g, 46a) in 81 games with just four penalty minutes.
Lady Byng Trophy voting
The NHL’s full press release is below:
Kings’ Anze Kopitar Wins Third Career Lady Byng Trophy
Los Angeles Captain Honored in Special Surprise Trophy Presentation
NEW YORK (June 12, 2025) – Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar is the 2024-25 recipient of the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, awarded “to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability,” as selected by the Professional Hockey Writers Association.
The Kings’ captain – who is spending his offseason in his native Slovenia – learned the news from his children, who handed him special drawings of the Lady Byng before giving him the replica trophy.
The 37-year-old Kopitar, who previously received the award in 2015-16 and 2022-23, is the third player this century with at least three Lady Byng Trophy wins. The others: Pavel Datsyuk (4x) and Martin St. Louis (3x).
Kopitar prevailed in a wide-open race in which the top five finishers were separated by fewer than 200 voting points. Kopitar received 50 first-place votes en route to 856 voting points, ahead of Tampa Bay Lightning center Brayden Point (second, 793), Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel (third, 782), Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin, a two-time Lady Byng Trophy winner (fourth, 760 points) and Montreal Canadiens center Nick Suzuki (fifth, 694).
Kopitar, in his 19th NHL campaign and ninth as the Kings’ captain, placed second on the team with 21-46—67 in 81 contests to help Los Angeles (48-25-9, 105 points) match franchise records for wins and points in a season. Kopitar – who finished the campaign in 28th place in NHL history for career assists (838) and in 40th place for career points (1,278) – also ranked among the 2024-25 League leaders (using respective minimums) in percentage of team face-offs taken (5th; 33.5%), shooting percentage (6th; 21.4%) and face-off winning percentage (10th; 57.2%). He logged 1,535:25 of time on ice (an average of 18:57 per game) while recording only four penalty minutes, the fewest among the 527 NHL skaters who made at least 55 appearances during the season.
The best players and coaches from the 2024-25 season will be celebrated in the 2025 NHL Awards, a one-hour special that will premiere tonight at 6 p.m. ET on TNT in the U.S. and Sportsnet in Canada, before Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final. The show will highlight all NHL Award winners this season, including Kopitar and others revealed in a series of special surprise video announcements across all League platforms.
