Los Angeles Kings forward Anze Kopitar is the winner of the Lady Byng Trophy, given annually to the NHL player who displays the most gentlemanly conduct.
Kopitar learned he won the award on a family vacation in Slovenia while playing a round of golf with his father. After nine holes, daughter Neza and son Jakob let him know he was the recipient of his third Lady Byng.
“You won the award for the nicest NHL player,” Neza said.
Congratulations to the “Nicest Dad in the NHL” 😭 @AnzeKopitar #GoKingsGo | @NHL
pic.twitter.com/XeYylYd6P0
— LA Kings (@LAKings) June 12, 2025
In 81 regular-season games in the 2024-25 season, Kopitar received just two minor penalties totaling four minutes. He tallied 67 points (21 goals, 46 assists) and added nine points (2 goals, 7 assists) in six playoff games.
Kopitar, 37, also won the Lady Byng in the 2015-16 and 2022-23 seasons to become the 10th player to win the award at least three times.
“To me, it just means being so-called a gentleman,” the Kings’ captain said. “Hockey is a physical sport, but within those parameters, I think there’s obviously room, I guess, [to be] a gentleman, a good guy, having respect toward your peers, toward the officials. Just carry yourself in a way to where kids look at you, young kids look at you, what you do on the ice. I guess this exemplifies that it’s doable, and I’m honored to have won it three times now and it means a great deal to me.”
Kopitar is a two-time Stanley Cup winner, and he has won the Selke Trophy as best defensive forward twice (2015-16, ’17-18) and the Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award (2021-22).
He finished first in the balloting with 856 points, followed by the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Brayden Point (793 points), the Vegas Golden Knights’ Jack Eichel (782), the Carolina Hurricanes’ Jaccob Slavin (760) and the Montreal Canadiens’ Nick Suzuki.
The Kings selected Kopitar with the 11th overall pick of the 2005 NHL draft.
