Montreal Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki is on pace for a career year in points, but the center's two-way game hasn't wavered. With Aleksander Barkov injured, this may be his year for the Selke Trophy, but he still has competition.
The Montreal Canadiens are thriving, sitting in third place in the Atlantic Division with several young players set for career seasons.
One of those players is captain Nick Suzuki, who's current 24 goals and 80 points have him on pace to score 29 goals and 97 points in 82 games.
While his offensive output places him in the upper echelon of NHL centers, his defensive ability makes him so valuable to the Canadiens, and it's likely time we not only think of Suzuki as a Selke Trophy contender, but a possible front-runner.
The 26-year-old has previously received Selke Trophy votes, finishing 13th in his two most recent seasons. His highest voting placement was second, a feat he achieved in 2023-24 and 2024-25. But in the 2025-26 season, the sense is that he will accumulate far more second-place votes and very likely many first-place votes.
Simply put, the Habs are a better team with Suzuki on the ice. At 5-on-5, Montreal is outscoring its opponents 58-36 with Suzuki on the ice, a 61.7 percent share, which leads the team, according to naturalstattrick.com. Additionally, the Canadiens own 55.79 percent of the expected goals with him on the ice.
Who Is Suzuki's Competition?
Although Suzuki's defensive play alone is enough to warrant consideration for the Selke Trophy, his chances have increased significantly due to Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov's injury.
Barkov has been named the recipient of the Selke Trophy the past two seasons, and would have undoubtedly been the favorite to win it again this year. Without Barkov, there's no clear favorite, and the field is wide open.
In 2024-25, Panthers Sam Reinhart and Tampa Bay Lightning's Anthony Cirelli rounded out the top three. The following were New Jersey Devils Nico Hischier in fourth, and Vegas Golden Knights' Jack Eichel in fifth. Although none of those players have fallen out of the race and they could each make a case, none are as strong as Suzuki's.
The Panthers will likely miss the playoffs, and their overall team defense has been very subpar. The same could be said for Hischier. Eichel could make a strong case as the Golden Knights are in a playoff spot, and they've been without William Karlsson for most of the season, putting more pressure on Eichel to take the difficult matchups.
Injuries will likely force Anze Kopitar and Auston Matthews out of the race. While players like Mitch Marner, Joel Eriksson Ek, Seth Jarvis and Brandon Hagel make compelling cases, Suzuki's strongest competitor is Cirelli.
Cirelli is the key defensive center for Jon Cooper's Lightning squad, used in line matching and as a penalty-kill specialist.
But Suzuki does exactly what Cirelli does on the defensive end, while affecting the game on a grander scale. If there were knocks to Suzuki and Cirelli's Selke cases, it would be their faceoff percentages, both of which are below 50 percent.
In all, Suzuki has played in every Canadiens game this season, averaging 20:51 of ice time while throwing 51 hits and blocking 54 shots, and has been used in every scenario.
With 15 games remaining, the former 13th overall pick in the 2017 NHL draft has time to cement his case to voters or persuade them.
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