The finalists for the Selke Trophy have officially been named in the NHL. This award is usually handed out to the forward who is voted the best when it comes to defense. The actual winner of this award isn’t going to be announced to the public until the 2022 NHL Awards which takes place close to the Stanley Cup Finals. The finalists are Patrice Bergeron, Elias Lindholm and Aleksander Barkov.
Selke Trophy Finalists
Patrice Bergeron
Starting off with Patrice Bergeron, he was the captain of the Boston Bruins and has already won the award four times in his career. He led the entire league in face-off percentage at 61.9 percent. He was also the first in face-offs won at 991. Bergeron was also second on the team with 45 blocked shots and third with 37 takeaways. Other stats show that he had 65 total points, third on the roster, with 25 goals and 40 assists in 73 games. All of those stats helped Boston finish with a 51-26-5 record at the end of the regular season. They then made the playoffs for the sixth straight year.
Alexander Barkov
Next is Barkov. The Florida Panthers forward was third on the team with 42 blocked shots, fifth with 59 takeaways, first in ice time per game and second in shorthanded ice time. When it comes to the league stats, Barkov was eighth in the NHL with a 57 percent face-off percentage. He was excellent on the other end as well, finishing with 88 points, including 39 goals and 49 assists. The Panthers then went on to go 58-18-6 and won the Presidents’ Trophy at the end of the regular season. Barkov was the winner of the Selke Trophy last season as well. If he wins it this year, he will be the first player to win consecutive Selke awards since Bergeron did it in 2013-14 and 2014-15.
Elias Lindholm
Finally, we have Lindholm. Lindholm was second in the league in plus/minus this season with a whopping +61. He led the Calgary Flames in shorthanded ice time per game, ice time per game, face-offs taken, and face-offs won. Not to mention he was first with 52 shots blocked and 55 takeaways. This is the first time in his career that he has been named a finalist for the Selke Trophy. He had 82 points on the season including 42 goals and 40 assists. Among those goals were nine game-winning goals as well just to top it off. Nobody in Calgary Flames history has ever walked away with this award, so it could be a monumental moment if he takes it home. Calgary themselves also finished with a 50-21-11 overall record. Clinching the Pacific Division for the first time since 2019.
Which of these players are going to be able to take this award home? Can Barkov win it for a second straight season? Will Bergeron get back on top and make an NHL record of five Selke Trophies won? Maybe Lindholm gets the first in Flames history and upsets those other two competitors. We will just have to wait until the awards ceremony.
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