Boston Bruins winger Loui Eriksson, Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar and Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov were announced by the NHL as the finalists for the 2015-16 Lady Byng Memorial Trophy on Saturday.
The Lady Byng is awarded to the player who combines fantastic sportsmanship with a high level of on-ice production.
“It is a great honor to be considered for the Lady Byng Trophy, an award that has been won by some of the best players of all time,” Eriksson said in a team press release.
“There are many deserving candidates, so to be named one of the finalists with Anze Kopitar and Aleksander Barkov is very exciting for me. Thank you to my teammates and the coaching staff, and I appreciate all those who voted.”
The criteria for how to vote on this award is not as set in stone compared to other awards. The most common system used is looking at players with good-to-great scoring totals and a low number of penalty minutes.
Eriksson certainly qualifies under that criteria. He ranked tied for second on the Bruins in scoring with 63 points (30 goals, 33 assists) and tallied just 12 PIMs in 82 regular-season games.
The last Bruins player to win the Lady Byng was Rick Middleton in 1981-82.
Thumbnail photo via Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports Images
