For the first time in his career, Brock Nelson will finish as a finalist for a major season award, with him being named a finalist for the Frank J. Selke Trophy
The NHL has revealed the finalists for the Frank J. Selke Trophy, and, alongside Anthony Cirelli (Lightning) and Nick Suzuki (Canadiens), Colorado Avalanche center Brock Nelson has been named the third finalist.
The Selke trophy is awarded “to the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game." Like many other awards, this trophy is also voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association. The award has been in a carousel of amazing centers these past couple of seasons, from Aleksander Barkov to Patrice Bergeron and Anze Kopitar.
He helped lead the Avalanche penalty kill and defensive stats to some of the best stats the franchise has ever seen. League-low 197 goals against, penalty kill finishing at a league high 84.6% while only allowing 36 goals in 234 times short. The most penalty minutes played in his career on the penalty kill at 150:18, which is almost double his previous high during the 2019-20 season, which saw him log 107:17 minutes.
The advanced stats that really stood out the most are: the highest percentage of shifts started in the defensive zone at 16.4%, a career high in blocks with 65, the second-lowest amount of defensive zone giveaways at 15, the highest on-ice goal differential at 39, and the same with expected on-ice goal differential at 42.5.
Nelson has been involved in every aspect of the game this season with the Avalanche. Power play, penalty kill, 6-on-4 situations, you name it. No other player in Avalanche history has won the Selke trophy; the last to be a finalist was Joe Sakic back in 2000-01, when he finished second behind John Madden.
