Vincent Lecavalier Nominated for Masterton Trophy

The local chapter of the PHWA has selected LA's 2016 nominee.

The Los Angeles chapter of the Professional Hockey Writer's Assocation has selected Vincent Lecavalier as the Los Angeles Kings' 2015-16 nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. The Masterton is awarded to the player who best exemplifies "the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey."

The 35-year-old centreman was a healthy scratch for the first time in his career last year, and after being relegated to the press box for much of the season in Philadelphia, he's gotten a fresh start in LA and largely taken advantage of it. Lecavalier has eight goals and seven assists in 35 games, hasn't been a healthy scratch yet, and (I can only assume) will try to be a playoff difference-maker for a major contender in his final season in the NHL. He probably won't be a finalist -- Mats Zuccarello, Pascal Dupuis, and Jaromir Jagr are probably the favorites -- but it's a well-deserved nod. (You can see the nominees, and the reasons they were nominated, here.)

For the record, here are LA's Masterton nominees in this decade:

2011: Willie Mitchell
2012: Colin Fraser
2013: Jonathan Bernier
2014: Willie Mitchell
2015: Robyn Regehr

Three members of the Los Angeles Kings have won the Masterton Trophy: Butch Goring (1977-78), Bob Bourne (1987-88), and Dave Taylor (1990-91).