Nathan MacKinnon Wins Lady Byng Trophy

The National Hockey League announced this evening that Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon has been named the recipient of the 2019-20 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."
MacKinnon, 25, is the third player in franchise history to be awarded the Lady Byng, joining Joe Sakic in 2001 and Ryan O'Reilly in 2014.

MacKinnon received 64 first-place votes, besting Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs (21 votes) and O'Reilly, now with the St. Louis Blues (10 votes). The winner of the Lady Byng is selected in a poll by the Professional Hockey Writers' Association at the end of the regular season.
MacKinnon led the Avalanche and finished fifth in league scoring with 93 points (35g/58a) in 69 games this season, while collecting just 12 penalty minutes, becoming the first player in franchise history to produce 90 or more points in a campaign while recording 12 or fewer penalty minutes. He is just the third player (fourth time) in the last 20 years to register more than 90 points with 12 or fewer penalty minutes, joining Aleksander Barkov (96 points, 8 PIM in 2018-19) and Martin St. Louis (99 points, 12 PIM in 2010-11 and 94 points, 12 PIM in 2009-10).

MacKinnon set a career high with 29 multi-point games this year, the most by an Avalanche player since Peter Forsberg had 29 during the 2002-03 campaign and tied with Boston's David Pastrnak for second in the league (Leon Draisaitl, 33). He became the first player to post three consecutive seasons of 90 or more points since the team moved to Denver in 1995 and joined Sakic (2003-07) as the only Colorado players to register three straight 30-goal campaigns. MacKinnon's 35 goals ranked ninth in the NHL, and his 58 assists were sixth in the league, matching his career best set both in 2018-19 and the year before. The 6-foot, 200-pound center joined Sakic and Forsberg as the only Colorado skaters to record three straight 50-assist seasons.
Among the league leaders, MacKinnon ranked fifth in the NHL in points-per-game (1.35), the highest average by an Avalanche player (min. 50 points) since Forsberg (1.41) in 2003-04. He finished fourth in the NHL in power-play points (31) and was tied for sixth in power-play goals, equaling his career best with 12 man-advantage tallies. His 62 even-strength points (23g/39a) ranked third in the league and he led the NHL in shots for the second straight season with 318.
In the 2019-20 Stanley Cup Playoffs, MacKinnon finished with 25 points (9g/16a) in 15 contests, the most by an Avalanche player in a single playoff year since Peter Forsberg had 27 in 2002. His nine goals and 16 assists were each the most by an Avalanche skater since 2002, and he was the first player to record 25 points in a postseason in 14 games or fewer since Wayne Gretzky in 1993 (8g/17a). MacKinnon registered a point in Colorado's first 14 games of the postseason, the longest playoff point streak in franchise history and the longest stretch in the playoffs since 2006 when Eric Staal had a 15-game run with Carolina. He now ranks 10th in franchise history with 54 points (20g/34a) in 40 career postseason contests and has the league's fourth-highest points-per-game average (1.35) in NHL playoff history (min. 30 games played).

The Halifax, Nova Scotia, native opened the 2019-20 campaign by recording points in each of his first 13 games, the longest scoring streak to start a season in Avalanche history and the fourth-longest in franchise history. It was the longest by any NHL player to open a season since Henrik Zetterberg recorded points in 17 games to begin the 2007-08 campaign. MacKinnon also produced points in each of his first eight home games, equaling the longest home scoring streak to start a season in Avalanche history (Alex Tanguay, 2005-06).
MacKinnon was named one of the NHL's Stars of the Week on three occasions this season and was the league's Second Star for the month of November, the third straight November that he had been honored as one of the NHL's three stars (Second Star, November 2018; First Star, November 2017). MacKinnon finished second in the league with 25 points (10g/15a) in 14 November contests despite missing linemates Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog due to injury for almost the entire month. His 25 points set a new career high for any month and were a franchise record for the month of November. It was the most points by an Avalanche player in any calendar month since March 2000 (Sakic, 26).
MacKinnon was named captain of the Central Division for the 2020 NHL All-Star Game on Jan. 25 in St. Louis, the second straight year he had been voted captain. He was the first Avalanche player to be named All-Star captain twice (Sakic wore the 'C' once) and the first Avalanche player to be selected to four consecutive All-Star Games since Forsberg was chosen for six straight from 1996-2001.
This marks the second postseason award of MacKinnon's career, as he captured the 2013-14 Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL's top rookie. At 18 years, 224 days, he was the youngest player to ever win the Calder and was also named to the NHL All-Rookie Team that year. The first overall selection in the 2013 NHL Draft, MacKinnon has totaled 495 points (190g/305a) in 525 career regular-season NHL games after becoming the youngest player in franchise history to make his debut at 18 years, 31 days.