NEW YORK – Anthony Cirelli of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Brock Nelson of the Colorado Avalanche and Nick Suzuki of the Montreal Canadiens are the three finalists for the 2025-26 Frank J. Selke Trophy, awarded “to the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game,” the National Hockey League announced today.
Members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association submitted ballots for the Selke Trophy at the conclusion of the regular season, with the top three vote-getters designated as finalists.
Following are the finalists, in alphabetical order:
Anthony Cirelli, Tampa Bay Lightning
Cirelli’s two-way excellence contributed to the Lightning ranking second in the NHL in goal differential (+57) and third in goals against (229), not including shootout-deciding goals, as Tampa Bay skated to its ninth consecutive Stanley Cup Playoff berth. He recorded a career-high plus-minus rating for the second consecutive season (+38) to rank fourth among NHL forwards, took a team-leading 1,075 face-offs (48.2%) and led all Lightning forwards in shorthanded ice time (186:51) for the NHL’s third-ranked penalty-killing unit (82.6%) despite missing 11 games. The Lightning outscored the opposition 76-42 at even strength when Cirelli was on the ice, with his 64.4% ratio leading the team and marking the best figure in his eight full NHL seasons. Cirelli is a Selke finalist for the second consecutive season; he became the first Lightning player in franchise history so honored last season, when he finished third in balloting behind the Florida Panthers duo of Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart.
Brock Nelson, Colorado Avalanche
Nelson, in his first full season in Colorado, helped the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Avalanche yield a League-low 197 goals (excluding shootouts), a reduction of 34 over their 2024-25 total (231) and 25 fewer than their nearest competition in 2025-26, the Dallas Stars (222). Nelson was a regular on the penalty-killing unit that led the NHL at 84.6%, allowing a League-low 36 goals in 234 times short. He played the most total minutes in his 13-season NHL career (1,591:55, an average of 19:39 per game), logged the most shorthanded minutes (150:18, nearly 50% more than his previous high of 107:12 in 2019-20 with the New York Islanders) and posted career-high and team-leading totals in both face-offs taken (1,459) and face-off wins (735, 50.4%). Nelson is a first-time NHL Awards finalist and vying to become the first player in franchise history to capture Selke honors. The last Colorado player voted a Selke finalist was the team’s current team president of hockey operations Joe Sakic in 2000-01 (second).
Nick Suzuki, Montreal Canadiens
Suzuki led Canadiens forwards in several categories as the team posted its highest point total (106) since 2014-15 and fewest goals-against (251, excluding shootouts) in a full 82-game season since 2018-19. The captain played all 82 games for the fifth consecutive season and topped Montreal forwards in total ice time (1,707:17, an average of 20:49 game) and even-strength time (1,359:02). He ranked sixth in the NHL in face-offs (1,449), taking 32.2% of all Montreal draws. The only NHL players with an equal or higher figure were Nico Hischier (NJD, 39.9%) and Dylan Larkin (DET, 32.2%). The Canadiens outscored the opposition 94-58 at even strength when Suzuki was on the ice, with his 61.8% ratio leading the team and marking a career high. Suzuki is a first-time NHL Awards finalist and looks to join Canadiens greats Bob Gainey and Guy Carbonneau as a Selke winner. Gainey captured the award in each of the first four seasons it was presented (1977-78 through 1980-81) while Carbonneau claimed it three times (1987-88, 1988-89 and 1991-92).
