The previous two Selke Trophy winners, Jonathan Toews and Patrice Bergeron, along with first-time finalist Anze Kopitar have been named as the three nominees for this season, the NHL announced on Thursday.
Given annually to “the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game,” the Selke was taken home last year by Toews -- his first-ever win -- and captured two years ago by Bergeron, who won in a landslide with 106 first-place votes.
This year, Kopitar joined the fray. The L.A. center played all 82 games this year and finished second to Sidney Crosby in terms of minutes logged by a forward; Kopitar also logged more shorthanded time than any of the NHL’s top-30 scorers and won 53.3 percent of his faceoffs. By being named a finalist, the Slovenian becomes the first-ever player in Kings franchise history to garner a Selke nomination.
Bergeron, meanwhile, led the NHL with 1,015 faceoff wins -- the most by any player in seven years -- and led all Boston forwards in shorthanded time on ice per game. This marks the third consecutive year he’s been a Selke finalist, as he finished the runner-up to Toews in ’13.
Speaking of Toews, he earned his third Selke nomination in the last four years by finishing fifth in the NHL in faceoff wins (884) and percentage (57.2). “Captain Serious” also led all Chicago forwards in time on ice per game and finished second on the team in takeaways, with 51.