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Today: called Kopitar perhaps the most consistent player he’d seen in over two decades in pro hockey. McLellan, former Kings coach Darryl Sutter and no shortage of opposing coaches have praised the comprehensiveness and integrity of Kopitar’s game over the years. So it comes as little surprise that he has returned to the dialogue surrounding so many different awards.

Kopitar has racked up 28 points in 23 games, the best points-per-game average of his career. His previous best was in 2018, when he was a finalist for the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player. He also won the Selke Trophy (top defensive forward) that season, for the second time, and he has been a finalist for the award two other times in his career.

In 2016, he won the Lady Byng Trophy as the league’s most gentlemanly player — a feat he could repeat given his low penalty total and clean defensive play — as well as the Selke. Capturing the Selke and Lady Byng had been accomplished previously by only Pavel Datsyuk and Ron Francis.

Only Sergei Fedorov has won both the Hart and Selke trophies in the same season.

Traditionally, Hart winners also have a shot at the