Cole Caufield, Anže Kopitar, Jake Sanderson Named Lady Byng Finalists
The NHL has announced the finalists for the 2026 Lady Byng Memorial Trophy. The trophy is presented annually to the player who exhibits a high standard of sportsmanship, gentlemanly conduct, and playing ability. This year’s finalists are Montreal Canadiens winger Cole Caufield, Los Angeles Kings centerman Anže Kopitar, and Ottawa Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson.
Kopitar has won the Lady Byng three times, including in 2023 and 2025. He has exemplified sportsmanship and leadership through 10 seasons as the Kings’ captain. That run came to a peak this season as the 38-year-old Kopitar went on his final tour around the league. In what was the planned finale to his career, he scored 12 goals and 38 points in 67 games and helped Los Angeles push into their fifth consecutive playoff berth. After a first-round exit at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche, Kopitar officially announced his retirement after 20 seasons in the league. He was a perennial 60-point scorer who reached as high as 92 points at his peak.
While Lady Byng voting will be based on this season, it will be hard not to consider Kopitar’s legacy in Los Angeles. One more Lady Byng win would tie him with Pavel Datsyuk for the most since 2000. Red Kelly also won four times between 1951 and 1961. Wayne Gretzky won the Lady Byng five times between 1980 and 1999. The all-time record holder is Frank Boucher, who won the trophy seven times in eight years between 1928 and 1935. Boucher’s run of wins let him take home the original Lady Byng Trophy and prompted the creation of the Memorial Trophy.
Caufield receives his first finalist bid for the Lady Byng this season, after finishing 64th and 34th in voting in the last two seasons respectively. The Canadiens’ star winger is predominantly known for big smiles and great goal-scoring, two traits that ramped up as he achieved a breakout 51 goals and 88 points in 81 games this season. Caufield became the first Canadiens player to cross the 50-goal mark since Stephane Richer in 1990. He also led the league with 12 game-winning goals. That performance helped boost Canadiens center Nick Suzuki to his first 100-point campaign and brought Montreal into their second consecutive postseason. Caufield does not wear a letter for Montreal but the impact of his personality on and off of the ice is still top class. Even if he does not win the Lady Byng this season, a nomination at the age of 25 speaks to Caufield’s chances at one day cementing the trophy.
The same can be said for the 23-year-old Sanderson, who stepped into Ottawa’s top defense role with a breakout season. Sanderson finished the year with 14 goals and 54 points in 67 games. He averaged nearly 25 minutes of ice time a night, in part thanks to the string of injuries that plagued fellow top defenseman Thomas Chabot – who missed 25 games. Only seven players averaged more ice time than Sanderson at even-strength. He also ranked in the top-15 of penalty-killing time per game. His ability to step into a major role for Ottawa, intermixed with a Gold Medal win with Team USA at the 2026 Winter Olympics, make Sanderson a great candidate for multiple nominations this award season.
Breaking Down The Senators’ Options For Drake Batherson
The Ottawa Senators powered through an up-and-down season to sneak into the playoffs, only to be decisively bounced by the Carolina Hurricanes. The result was a disappointment, but it was a true measuring-stick series that showed the Senators how far they are from being a true Stanley Cup contender. Now the team enters the offseason with a lot of uncertainty around their captain, their netminding, and pending UFAs. However, one player whose future could also be decided is forward Drake Batherson, who can become a UFA himself on July 1st, 2027.
Batherson was one of the few Senators forwards to contribute offensively to the first round of the playoffs, scoring three goals and an assist in four games. This production came on the heels of a career year, in which the 28-year-old tallied 33 goals and 38 assists in 79 games.
That kind of production will almost certainly land Batherson a rich new contract when he reaches free agency in just over 14 months, but if you are the Ottawa Senators, do you want to pay upwards of $9MM for a player who will be entering his 30s in the second year of a potential six- or seven-year deal? It’s hard to say, but it’s something Ottawa has to think about over the next few weeks, with just a single year left on Batherson’s contract at just $4.975MM ($6.55MM in actual salary).
After a career year and a strong showing in a brief playoff window, Batherson’s stock is unlikely to be any higher, meaning a potential trade could yield the Senators a pretty healthy return, especially given how poor the free-agent market is. Any team looking to acquire Batherson will almost certainly want to do so with an extension in place, but there is risk in that, as many teams have found out the hard way.
PHR released a piece three months ago about several instances of the trade-and-sign move backfiring on teams that acquire a player and quickly extend them, without seeing them play with their group for an extended period. Jonathan Huberdeau, Timo Meier and Pierre-Luc Dubois are great examples of that approach going sideways, but just because there are cautionary tales doesn’t mean Batherson will become one. The flip side is also true, given that Matthew Tkachuk was a trade-and-extend as well, but that also doesn’t suggest Batherson will be an instant fit on a new team. These are considerations that a potentially acquiring team will have.
The other major consideration, and likely the biggest, is what assets the team will need to move to acquire him, along with the cash required to extend him. If Batherson posts another 30+ goal, 70+ point season, $9MM annually will certainly be in play on a six- or seven-year deal. But if Ottawa gets out in front of things and trades him this season, what will it take to acquire him?
As mentioned earlier, the trade market will be robust this summer, making Batherson an expensive trade target with few comparables, although one recent trade candidate could offer a glimpse into the trade market for forwards. The Pittsburgh Penguins tried to trade Rickard Rakell last summer and potentially asked for a top-tier prospect, a first-round pick, and additional assets. The caveat is that Pittsburgh never received an offer for Rakell to their liking, but they had their sights set high for a Rakell trade.
Batherson, a younger and more consistent scorer than Rakell, would have higher trade value even though he has just a year left on his deal. Batherson is four years younger than Rakell was last summer and has four consecutive 60+ point seasons to his credit, while Rakell has just three 60+ point seasons in his entire career. Another issue with comparing last summer’s trade request to this year’s potential request for Batherson is that the Penguins were looking to the future with their requests, whereas the Senators would probably prefer roster players who can help them win now. This would not be an easy trade to facilitate.
There are many other factors at play as well. If Ottawa trades Batherson, it creates an offensive hole for a team that already needs more offense up front and shifts their hunt from potentially needing two top-nine forwards to needing three. Given the thin free-agent market and their poor farm system, Ottawa might find their options limited when it comes to upgrading their forward group, even if they hold onto Batherson.
Then there is the fact that Batherson is a homegrown talent, having been drafted by the Senators in the fourth round of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft (121st overall). He is clearly loved by the franchise, which was quick to shoot down trade rumours last spring when they emerged in the media. Ottawa has historically had issues hanging onto homegrown talent and has watched many players move on and win in other cities. That may be a consideration if and when both sides begin talks on a contract extension.
Couple the Batherson conundrum with the drama surrounding captain Brady Tkachuk and goaltender Linus Ullmark, and you have the makings of a wild offseason in Ottawa as the team tries to move on from a difficult season. Batherson’s next contract will likely not age gracefully, particularly as he approaches his mid-30s, but the Senators might not have a choice but to extend him as they try to find some success with their current core group of players.
Atlantic Notes: Tkachuk, Dobson, Der-Arguchintsev
Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk took center stage Wednesday during his end-of-season press conference, using the time to forcefully shut down growing speculation regarding his future with the club. While the rest of the team’s end-of-season press conference was held on Monday after the Carolina Hurricanes swept the Senators, Tkachuk was delayed to celebrate the birth of his daughter, Lyla. During the discussions, Tkachuk wasted little time addressing trade rumors that he labeled a “distraction.”
“I feel like I’ve never shown, never said, none of those things have ever come out of my mouth, and quite honestly, it’s just getting frustrating,” Tkachuk said. “I have been fully committed to this team, to this city.”
General Manager Steve Staios echoed that sentiment earlier in the week, calling the rumors “nonsense.” Tkachuk, 26, is under contract for two more seasons and finished the year with 59 points in 60 games. Despite his regular-season production, he was held scoreless in the opening-round sweep, a result he admitted was a “big shot in the confidence.” He plans to meet with Staios following the U18 World Championships to discuss how to improve the roster for next season.
Additional notes around the Atlantic:
- The Montreal Canadiens received a significant boost during Wednesday’s optional skate as defenseman Noah Dobson returned to the ice. Dobson has been sidelined since April 11 after blocking a shot with his left hand, an injury that forced him to miss the start of the Canadiens’ first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning. While he skated individually and has yet to be cleared for full contact, his presence is a major step forward for a Habs blueline that has relied heavily on Mike Matheson and Lane Hutson in his absence.
- Former Maple Leafs prospect Semyon Der-Arguchintsev is reportedly interested in a return to the NHL after a productive stint in the KHL. His agent, Shumi Babaev, confirmed that they have already reached out to the organization to express a desire to rejoin the system. “Semyon is considering the option of returning to Toronto,” Babaev told R.org’s Daria Tuboltseva. “We contacted former general manager Brad Treliving and expressed our desire to return to the club’s system. Now we are waiting for the appointment of a new general manager and to understand his position.” Der-Arguchintsev, 25, recorded 37 points in 59 KHL games this season.
Senators Unlikely To Retain Nick Jensen
The “expectation is” that the Senators will not retain pending unrestricted free agent defenseman Nick Jensen, reports Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen.
Senators GM Steve Staios told the media this week that the club has “not closed the door” on any of their pending unrestricted free agents. But while the team could still retain some of its pending UFA forwards, they reportedly won’t be doing so with Jensen.
If Garrioch’s expectation comes to fruition, and the Senators let Jensen walk, the decision would end the veteran’s two-year stint in the Canadian capital. Jensen’s season ended in March after he underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus.
The 35-year-old blueliner is a veteran of nearly 700 NHL games and arrived in Ottawa as part of the Jakob Chychrun trade.
The longtime Capitals rearguard helped stabilize the right side of the Senators’ defense, and his arrival in Ottawa coincided with the team’s long-awaited return to the playoffs.
Ottawa had not made the playoffs since its run to the Eastern Conference Final in 2017 before Jensen arrived, but qualified for the postseason in each of the defenseman’s two seasons with the team.
There are a few factors that are contributing to the likelihood Jensen won’t return to Ottawa. Right-shot defenseman Jordan Spence emerged as a quality NHLer this season, scoring 31 points in 73 games while averaging 18:43 time on ice per game, including 1:16 per game on the power play. He’s due a new contract as an RFA and merits real consideration in a top-four role.
Veteran Artem Zub is already entrenched on the right side of Ottawa’s top four, meaning Jensen would likely have to settle for a third-pairing role if he re-signed in Ottawa. AFP Analytics projects Jensen’s next contract to be worth $3.575MM on a one-year deal, which could be too rich for the Senators if they’re signing him to slot in behind Zub and Spence.
Moreover, re-signing Jensen at that rate would box top prospect Carter Yakemchuk out of an opening-night lineup spot. Ottawa likely has every intention of letting the 2024 No. 7 pick legitimately compete for an NHL roster spot, and re-signing Jensen could work against that objective.
If Jensen and the Senators part ways, it might be a development that is mutually beneficial for both the player and club.
From Jensen’s perspective, he gets to exit a place where he saw his role decline sharply year-over-year. In his last season in Washington, Jensen was the team’s leading penalty-killer, averaging 2:46 time on ice per game on that unit. Jensen was a first-option penalty killer for nearly a half-decade with the Capitals. He largely maintained that status in his first campaign with the Senators, playing nearly two minutes per night on the penalty kill and 20:13 per game overall.
In 2025-26, Jensen saw that role diminish considerably. In 61 games, he spent just 0:48 per contest killing penalties. His overall time on ice per game declined over three minutes, to 17:00. He was Ottawa’s No. 4 defenseman in 2024-25, a role he also held in his time in Washington. This year, he was the team’s No. 6 defenseman.
While Jensen’s age likely has something to do with this decline in role – he’s not quite the same player he once was – Jensen’s perspective is likely to be that he still has more to give than he was called on to provide with the Senators.
That is likely a driving factor contributing to his projected departure from Ottawa, combined with the aforementioned financial and lineup considerations.
Photos courtesy of Bob Frid-Imagn Images
Greig's Hearing Date Set For Monday
- The Department of Player Safety announced (Twitter link) that the disciplinary hearing for Senators forward Ridly Greig will be held on Monday. The incident happened in the final game of their first-round series against Carolina for throwing a sucker punch at Sean Walker. With this being a phone hearing, any supplemental discipline would be capped at five games with Greig serving the suspension next season with Ottawa’s playoff run already over.
Samuel Bolduc To Pursue KHL Contract
A pending Senators Group Six free agent is looking to get a head start on the open market. Winners Agency announced on its Telegram page that they are now representing Samuel Bolduc and are looking at finding the defenseman a contract in the KHL next season.
The 25-year-old was acquired by Ottawa after the trade deadline from the Kings in exchange for forward Jan Jenik. However, because of the timing of the swap, he wasn’t eligible to be recalled despite a lengthy list of injuries on the back end. Instead, he had an increasing role with AHL Belleville and was productive for them, tallying 10 points in 12 games after putting up 21 in 56 with AHL Ontario prior to the swap.
This was the first time in four seasons that Bolduc didn’t see any NHL action. He has played in 52 games at the top level over parts of three years, all with the Islanders. Over that span, he managed four goals and four assists along with 56 blocks and 70 hits in 13:25 per night of playing time. Bolduc was non-tendered last summer to avoid arbitration eligibility and inked a one-year, two-way deal with Los Angeles soon after.
Bolduc will qualify for veteran status in the AHL next season thanks to crossing the 320-game mark between the NHL and AHL. Lineup spots for those players are capped at six, making it much more difficult to secure a contract despite a solid career thus far. Knowing this, it appears Bolduc will look to lock down a deal overseas and avoid running the risk of not being able to secure a two-way deal in NHL free agency.
Latest On Brady Tkachuk, Claude Giroux
The Ottawa Senators’ quick elimination from the playoffs at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes has prompted speculation about the future of captain Brady Tkachuk. Senators GM Steve Staios was asked about Tkachuk’s future in his end-of-season media availability today, and he made it clear the franchise has no interest in trading away – or even having a conversation about trading away – their star forward. When asked about whether he’d sit down with the player to discuss Tkachuk’s future, he said “there’s nothing that we have talked about or thought about where that conversation should happen.”
Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen noted that Tkachuk, who has a full no-move clause on his contract, has “full control” over his future. Although Tkachuk is just two seasons away from being able to leave Ottawa as an unrestricted free agent, it’s somewhat difficult to imagine the Senators winning any trade involving him. The Calgary Flames’ decision to deal Tkachuk’s older brother, Matthew Tkachuk, serves as a cautionary tale. The deal immediately vaulted the Panthers to legitimate Stanley Cup contention while plunging the Flames into what would eventually become a true rebuild. The younger Tkachuk isn’t the same caliber of player as his brother, but he’s still, as Travis Green said, a winger that all 31 other NHL teams “would love to have.” But the no-move clause on Tkachuk’s contract means he could hand-pick a trade destination, and dramatically reduce the kind of return the Senators might receive. That’s a factor that has burned teams in the past trading players with no-move clauses. For that reason, and many more, Staios made it clear today that unless something changes, his hockey operations department has no interest in even entertaining trade discussions revolving around Tkachuk.
Poll: Will Brady Tkachuk Be On The Senators Next Season?
After being eliminated by the Carolina Hurricanes in Round One of the Stanley Cup playoffs, speculation has already begun regarding Brady Tkachuk‘s future with the Ottawa Senators. Tkachuk is one year away from being eligible for an extension, and the Senators may look to capitalize before it’s too late.
Tkachuk, 26, is a known commodity at this point. Outside of this season, he has remained healthy over his entire career, despite playing a notorious crash-and-bang style of hockey. He’s become a consistent top-six scorer over the last five years, to boot, registering 153 goals and 338 points in 374 games, averaging 18:26 of ice time.
Additionally, as mentioned, he does what many top-six wingers fail to do: embrace the physicality of the game. Averaging 3.36 hits per game since debuting in the 2018-19 season, Tkachuk has never shied away from the fight, always looking for a way to give his team an edge wherever he can.
Still, like many of his teammates, Tkachuk was a ghost against the Hurricanes. It was a much different performance than last postseason, when Tkachuk tallied four goals and seven points in six games against the Toronto Maple Leafs, totalling 30 hits. This spring, he went scoreless in the series sweep with a -4 rating, finishing with 13 hits.
Although it was a second consecutive year that Ottawa made the postseason, many feel that the team took a step back, and with good reason. Due to inconsistent goaltending, the Senators finished one win short of last season and did not demonstrate much, if any, competitiveness in the playoffs.
That’s not to say it’s Tkachuk’s fault, but he is billed as the heart and soul of the team, which the organization showed very little of against Carolina. Furthermore, if he is unhappy in Canada’s capital and has his heart set on returning to the United States, it would make some sense for the Senators to trade him this offseason in an attempt to shake up the locker room and avoid losing him for nothing in a few years.
Regardless, it’s not something Ottawa necessarily needs to think about right now. Tkachuk is signed through the 2027-28 season, and it’s hard to imagine Tkachuk’s trade stock radically changing, especially if he’s willing to negotiate an extension with any interested club. He also has a full no-movement clause in his contract, which began this season, so the terms will be dictated by him, anyway.
Now it’s time for you to take the crystal ball. Will the Senators move on from Tkachuk this offseason to jump-start the team, or will they pursue other changes, like a coaching hire or other roster-related moves in the meantime before deciding on Tkachuk’s future after next season? Vote below!
Will Brady Tkachuk Be On The Senators Next Season?
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No 61% (759)
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Yes 39% (492)
Total votes: 1,251
Draft Pick Conditions Met In Foegele Trade
- The Rangers weren’t the only team affected by the Kings’ loss today. According to PuckPedia, since it is now confirmed that Los Angeles will finish lower than the Dallas Stars in the standings, the Senators will receive Dallas’ 2026 third-round pick in the Warren Foegele trade.
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Senators’ Ridly Greig Facing Suspension
Senators forward Ridly Greig‘s season is over following Ottawa’s sweep at the hands of the Hurricanes, which was finished off yesterday. He’ll now be facing a delayed start to his 2026-27 campaign as well. The NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced Sunday that Greig will have a hearing for roughing Carolina defenseman Sean Walker in their Game 4 loss.
Obviously, there’s no rush to make the decision. Still, it shouldn’t be more than a few days until Greig learns his fate. It’s not an in-person hearing, so his looming supplemental discipline won’t be any longer than five games.
Greig wasn’t penalized on the play, which was largely missed in the moment. At the midpoint of the second period in one of the many after-the-whistle scrums on Saturday, Walker and Ottawa winger Warren Foegele were engaged in a pseudo-fight near center ice. Greig, who didn’t have a sparring partner, came over and delivered a sucker punch square to Walker’s chin while he had his head down (video via Sportsnet).
In what was a silent series offensively for the Sens, Greig was one of only seven Ottawa skaters to record a point. His primary assist on Dylan Cozens‘ game-tying goal late in regulation in Game 2 was only the second postseason point of his career. He had a goal in six games against the Maple Leafs last season.
The 23-year-old will be kicking off his fourth full NHL season in the fall, whenever he does end up getting into the lineup. He’s already established himself as one of the Sens’ most physical forwards while posting some remarkably consistent offensive totals. He’s hit exactly 13 goals in each of his three full-time campaigns, with his point totals ranging from 26 to a career-high 35 this season.
Walker didn’t sustain an injury on the play, which certainly contributed to the non-call on the play. Walker took matters into his own hands later in the frame, earning a minor penalty for boarding Greig.