The winner of the Selke Trophy will be revealed Sunday before Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final between the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning. The game begins at 3 p.m. ET.
Here is a look at the three finalists:
Aleksander Barkov, Patrice Bergeron and Elias Lindholm are the three finalists for the
Selke Trophy
.
The award is given annually to the forward voted best to excel in the defensive aspects of the game as voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association.
Barkov led Florida Panthers forwards in ice time per game (20:18), was second in shorthanded ice time (2:10), third in blocked shots (42) and fifth in takeaways (59) despite being limited to 67 games. He was tied for eighth in the NHL among all skaters in face-off percentage at 57.0 percent (minimum 500 face-offs) and won 56.1 percent of his defensive-zone face-offs.
The Panthers captain scored 88 points (39 goals, 49 assists) and helped Florida (58-18-6) win the Presidents' Trophy as the team with the best record during the regular season. He was third among Panthers skaters in SAT percentage (minimum 20 games played), with Florida taking 58.5 percent of all shot attempts when he was on the ice at 5-on-5. Barkov, who won the Selke last season, would be the first player to win the award in back-to-back seasons since Bergeron in 2013-14 and 2014-15.
"He just plays hard every time he's on the ice," Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau said. "Obviously we know the kind of skills he has offensively, but defensively, his stick, he has a long stick and he just uses it and breaks up plays. ... Obviously he's a just guy that plays a 200-foot game and that's why he's such a tremendous player."
Bergeron, the captain of the Boston Bruins, is trying to win the award for a record fifth time. He led the NHL in face-off percentage (61.9 percent; minimum 500 attempts), was first in face-offs won (991), second in face-offs taken (1,600) and third in defensive-zone face-off percentage (59.3 percent). The center was third among Bruins forwards in average time on ice per game (18:10), second in shorthanded ice time per game (1:41), second in blocked shots (45) and third in takeaways (37).
Bergeron was third on Boston with 65 points (25 goals, 40 assists) in 73 games and helped it finish 51-26-5 and clinch a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the sixth straight season. Bergeron led the NHL in SAT percentage (65.1 percent, minimum 50 games). A finalist for a record 11th consecutive season, Bergeron finished second each of the past two seasons and last won it in 2016-17.
"[Bergeron] up for the Selke, in my estimation should win it," Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said. "No disrespect to any other nominees. But I think he's had another great year. We'll see how that turns out. ... He's a great defensive player. Eye test or stats test, I think he passes them all."
Lindholm was second in the NHL at plus-61 and led Calgary Flames forwards in ice time per game (19:57) and shorthanded ice time per game (2:07). He led the Flames in face-offs taken (1,592), face-offs won (750) and face-off percentage (52.9 percent), and was first among Calgary forwards in blocked shots (52) and tied for first in takeaways (55).
"It's very deserving," Flames coach Darryl Sutter said. "The goals for/against differential and his minutes played, not just 5-on-5 but at key moments of games, penalty killing, things like that that fall into that. If a team doesn't do well, he flies under the radar, so the team does well so then he's recognized. So, it's good. It's awesome."
A first-time finalist, Lindholm scored an NHL career-high 82 points (42 goals, 40 assists) with nine game-winning goals in 82 games and helped the Flames (50-21-11) win the Pacific Division for the first time since 2019. He would be the first Flames player to win the award.
"It's obviously cool and it's fun to be one of the three," Lindholm said. "But probably after the season, when we're all done, kind of sit down and enjoy it more. Right now, the focus is right here (on the playoffs)."
NHL.com staff writers Amalie Benjamin, Tom Gulitti and Tracey Myers contributed to this report
