Trey Vaval of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers was named the CFL’s top special-teams player and the top rookie on Thursday.
Vaval received the honours at the CFL’s awards banquet.
Voting was conducted by the Football Reporters of Canada and all nine CFL head coaches.
The five-foot-11, 163-pound Vaval led the CFL in punt returns (75) and yards (957) with a touchdown while returning two kickoffs for scores — the most in the league.
He was also tops in missed field goal returns (six), yards (391), longest return (128) and touchdowns (one).
He beat out veteran kicker Lirim Hajrullahu of the Toronto Argonauts for top special-teams player. The 35-year-old from St. Catharines, Ont., made 57-of-64 field goals, including a CFL-record 12 from 50-plus yards (on 15 attempts) and a league-best 25-of-30 from 40-plus yards.
Meanwhile, linebacker Devin Veresuk of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats was the other finalist for top rookie. The six-foot-two, 240-pound Windsor, Ont., native — taken second overall in the 2025 CFL draft — posted 67 tackles, three special-teams tackles, two sacks and an interception.
The interception was a 36-yard pick-six in his first pro start, a 35-17 win over Montreal on June 27.
