Montreal Canadiens' Nick Suzuki & Cole Caufield Take Home NHL Awards After Impressive 2025-26 Season

The 2025-26 campaign might be over for the Montreal Canadiens, but looking back at the year the organization had and the big step forward they took, both individually and as a whole, there's going to be a lot that fans will remember about this group.

After making it to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in four years last spring, where they ultimately fell to the Washington Capitals in five games, the Canadiens knew they needed to get better in order to take another step in their rebuilding process. For several players, including captain Nick Suzuki and forward Cole Caufield, they elevated their games to another level and led the Canadiens to their second Conference Final in the last five years, and it's safe to say that this team is just getting started.

Montreal Canadiens' Nick Suzuki & Cole Caufield named Selke Trophy, Lady Byng Trophy winners

Nick Suzuki was coming off a career-year during the 2024-25 season, picking up 89 points (30 goals, 59 assists) in 82 games and everyone was excited what he had in store this time around.

On April 12th against the New York Islanders, Nick Suzuki became the first Montreal Canadien to reach the 100-point plateau in 40 years and just the fifth player in franchise history to reach the mark, joining Guy Lafleur, Pete Mahovlich, Steve Shutt and Mats Naslund. In addition to his increased offensive productivity, Suzuki's defensive game took big strides this season. 

At both ends of the ice, Suzuki delivered for the Canadiens this season and for that reason, he was named as one of the three finalists for the Frank J. Selke Trophy in early may, alongside Anthony Cirelli of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Brock Nelson of the Colorado Avalanche, both of whom had great seasons in their own right.

Earlier today, the National Hockey League announced that Nick Suzuki was this year's recipient of the Frank J. Selke Trophy, which is handed out annually to the "forward who demonstrates the most skill in the defensive component of the game." Suzuki won in a landslide, picking up 151 of a possible 198 first place votes and finished with 1,726 points, 1,259 more than Anthony Cirelli, who finished in second place.

When speaking with reporters via Zoom on Friday, Suzuki said that he believes he can get to another level next season and that there's a lot he can work on so that he's able to have an even better year starting in the fall.

"I feel like there’s lots of things to still work on individually and as a team. Ultimately, you want to be the team still playing and have a chance to win the Cup, so I think there’s a lot more that myself and my teammates can do to have even better seasons moving forward, which is exciting for our group." Suzuki said according to Sportsnet's Eric Engels.

Another member of the Montreal Canadiens that had a really strong year was forward Cole Caufield, who became the first Hab to score 50 goals in a season since Stephane Richer in 1989-90. Caufield is just the seventh Montreal Canadien to ever reach the 50-goal plateau as he joined Maurice Richard, Bernie Geoffrion, Guy Lafleur, Steve Shutt, Pierre Larouche and the aforementioned Stephane Richer.

In addition to setting new career highs in goals (51) and points (88), Caufield finished the year with just 14 penalty minutes and so far in his National Hockey League career, the 25-year-old has only registered 58 penalty minutes in 368 games. Caufield rarely takes a penalty, let alone a bad one, with all seven of his this season being minors - October 14th vs Seattle (slashing), October 28th @ Seattle (slashing), November 4th vs Philadelphia (boarding), November 15th vs Boston (hooking), January 13th @ Washington (tripping), January 27th vs Vegas (hooking) and January 29th vs Colorado (high-sticking).

Caufield's final penalty of the 2025-26 season came on January 29th and in the proceeding 46 games (regular season + playoffs), the Stevens Point, Wisconsin native stayed out of the box. Because of his discipline and sportsmanship shown throughout the season, Cole Caufield was announced as the 2025-26 season recpient of the Lady Byng Trophy. 

In his media availability on Friday, Cole Caufield spoke about the impact his captain and friend Nick Suzuki has had on his career thus far and said that he wouldn't be where he is today without his teammate. Suzuki and Caufield have been linemates for quite some time now, so to watch the growth in their respective games and the success they're having, which has resulted in each of them winning an award this season, has been a pleasure to see.

"I wouldn't be anywhere near where I am today without him." Caufield said according to RG.org's Marco D'Amico.

Caufield and Suzuki will now have some well deserved time off after a very long season, before they begin to ramp things up as the summer goes on ahead of the league's first 84-game campaign since 1993-94.