Aleksander Barkov (Florida Panthers), Patrice Bergeron (Boston Bruins), and Mark Stone (Vegas Golden Knights) are the three finalists for the 2021 Selke Trophy, which is awarded annually to the NHL’s best defensive forward.
The award is voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association.
Bergeron is a finalist for the 10th time in his career and has already won it four different times. If he wins it again this season he would be the first player to ever win it five times. He is currently tied with former Montreal Canadiens forward Bob Gainey for the most wins.
Stone is a finalist for the second time in his career and would be the first winger since Dallas Stars forward Jere Lehtinen in 2002-03 to win it.
Barkov is a first time finalist.
The case for Aleksander Barkov:
Barkov has been the centerpiece of the Panthers’ organization for years and one of the league’s best bargains against the salary cap. An outstanding two-way player, he has finally started to get more recognition for his all-around play in recent years and the Panthers’ improvement this season climb to the playoffs drew even more attention to his play. He is a possession driver, scorer, and rarely takes penalties even though he plays some of the biggest -- and toughest -- minutes in the league.
The case for Patrice Bergeron:
Bergeron has been the gold standard for defensive play among forwards for nearly a decade now. He centers one of the league’s top lines between Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak, and not only scores at a top-line level but is one of the best shutdown centers in the league. Along with being one of the league’s best at faceoffs, he also posted dominant possession numbers and finished in the top-three in shot attempt share and is one of the best players in the league at suppressing shot attempts, scoring chances, and goals against. He is also a top penalty killer for the Bruins and regularly draws the other team’s best forwards. By almost every objective and subjective measure he is one of the league’s elite players.
The case for Mark Stone:
Simply the best defensive winger in hockey. He has been an outstanding two-way player for his entire career and blends top-10 scoring with elite defensive play in all phases of the game. He is one of the top players on the league’s best defensive team and plays significant minutes on the league’s best penalty kill. In 70 minutes of penalty kill time this season the Golden Knights allowed just two goals with Stone on the ice.
NHL Award finalists announcement schedule:
Vezina Trophy: Marc-Andre Fleury, Philipp Grubauer, Andrei Vasilevskiy
Ted Lindsay Award: Sidney Crosby, Auston Matthews, Connor McDavid
King Clancy Memorial Trophy: Kurtis Gabriel, Pekka Rinne, P.K. Subban
Calder Memorial Trophy: Kirill Kaprizov, Alex Nedeljkovic, Jason Robertson
Monday, June 7: Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award
Tuesday, June 8: Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy
Wednesday, June 9: James Norris Memorial Trophy
Thursday, June 10: Hart Memorial Trophy
Friday, June 11: Jack Adams Award
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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.