Nick Suzuki has won the Frank J. Selke Trophy for the first time in his career, and the voting wasn't close.
Montreal Canadiens center Nick Suzuki dominated the voting en route to winning the NHL's Frank J. Selke Trophy on Friday.
Suzuki was surprising teammate Cole Caufield with the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy inside the Canadiens' dressing room, not knowing Caufield was also surprising him with the Selke Trophy.
The award goes to the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game.
Based on the voting from the Professional Hockey Writers Association, there was little doubt that Suzuki was the NHL's best defensive forward this season.
The Canadiens' captain received 151 first-place votes out of the 198 ballots and 1,726 voting points.
Tampa Bay Lightning center Anthony Cirelli, who finished third in Selke voting last year, finished second with 10 first-place votes and 467 voting points. Colorado Avalanche center Brock Nelson was the third finalist with four first-place votes and 406 voting points.
Suzuki, 26, recorded a career-high 72 assists and 101 points in 82 games this season. He took the sixth-most faceoffs in the league (1,449), winning 50.4 percent of them. He also led Canadiens forwards in average ice time, at 20:49, and the Canadiens outscored their opponents 94-58 at even strength while Suzuki was on the ice.
Other Voting Standouts
A total of 53 NHL players received at least one vote for the Selke Trophy this season, including 17 players who earned at least one first-place vote.
Stanley Cup finalists Mitch Marner and Jordan Staal round out the top five, while Ottawa Senators center Shane Pinto finished sixth. Staal and Pinto received more first-place votes than Marner's three, with seven and eight, respectively. But Marner had 44 top-three votes, compared to Staal's 40 and Pinto's 34, and ultimately had more voting points.
Other Stanley Cup finalists from the Vegas Golden Knights and Carolina Hurricanes who received Selke votes are seventh-place Jack Eichel, ninth-place Sebastian Aho, 21st-place Mark Stone and 39th-place Seth Jarvis.
Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov won the Selke Trophy last year, while teammate Sam Reinhart finished second. Barkov didn't receive any Selke votes this year because he missed the entire season due to injury, but Reinhart fell to 16th in the voting, although one ballot ranked him first.
Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby has received a Selke vote in 14 of his 21 NHL seasons. Only one voter had Crosby on their ballot this year, and it was for first place.
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