Defenseman Kris Letang was selected as the Pittsburgh Penguins’ nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy by members of the Pittsburgh chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA) on Monday.
The award recognizes “the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.”
In his 17th season, Letang’s 2022-23 season has been a challenging endeavor as he suffered a stroke in late November that sidelined him for five games. Additionally, the death of his father, Claude Fouquet, on Dec. 31 as well as an undisclosed injury prompted him to take a leave of absence to attend to family matters.
Letang, 35, previously suffered a stroke in 2014.
This marks the fourth time Letang has been selected as the team’s nominee, previously receiving the recognition for the 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2017-18 seasons. Letang rose to being a finalist for the award in 2015.
Letang has appeared in 62 games this season and leads the team’s defensemen with 39 points (11 goals, 28 assists) while leading all of the Penguins’ non-goaltenders with an average of 24:49 of ice time per contest. On April 2, in a 4-2 home win against the Philadelphia Flyers, Letang appeared in his 1,000th career game.
Forwards Mario Lemieux (1993) and Lowell MacDonald (1973) are the only members of the Penguins to win the award.
First given out in 1968, the trophy is named after a Minnesota North Stars forward who died that year as a result of a head injury suffered during a game.
All 32 chapters of the PHWA nominate a player for the award before the association as a whole votes for a winner.
The nominees by chapter:
Anaheim Ducks - Jakob Silverberg
Arizona Coyotes - Clayton Keller
Boston Bruins - Nick Foligno
Buffalo Sabres - Craig Anderson
Calgary Flames - Mikael Backlund
Carolina Hurricanes - Jordan Martinook
Chicago Blackhawks - Alex Stalock
Colorado Avalanche - Andrew Cogliano
Columbus Blue Jackets - Boone Jenner
Dallas Stars - Jamie Benn
Detroit Red Wings - Robby Fabbri
Edmonton Oilers - Derek Ryan
Florida Panthers - Patric Hornqvist
Los Angeles Kings - Pheonix Copley
Minnesota Wild - Mason Shaw
Montreal Canadiens - Alex Belzile
Nashville Predators - Cody Glass
New Jersey Devils - Dougie Hamilton
New York Islanders - Zach Parise
New York Rangers - Jimmy Vesey
Ottawa Senators - Derick Brassard
Philadelphia Flyers - Nick Seeler
Pittsburgh Penguins - Kris Letang
San Jose Sharks - Nikolai Knyzhov
Seattle Kraken - Brandon Tanev
St. Louis Blues - Sammy Blais
Tampa Bay Lightning - Pierre-Edouard Bellemare
Toronto Maple Leafs - Mark Giordano
Vancouver Canucks - Brock Boeser
Vegas Golden Knights - Phil Kessel
Washington Capitals - John Carlson
Winnipeg Jets - Sam Gagner
