Defenseman Kris Letang selected as Penguins' nominee for Masterton Trophy

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