#NHLPeachy @NHL @CanadiensMTL Canadiens’ Nick Suzuki Wins Selke Trophy
Montreal Canadiens forward Nick Suzuki is the 2025-26 recipient of the Frank J. Selke Trophy, recognizing “the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game,” as selected by the Professional Hockey Writers Association.
Suzuki believed that he was surprising teammate Cole Caufield with the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy inside the Montreal locker room, not knowing that Caufield also was surprising him with the Selke.
Suzuki, a first-time NHL Awards finalist, joins 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).
As the first choice on 151 of the 198 ballots and a top-five pick of 191 voters, Suzuki was a runaway winner with 1,726 voting points. Tampa Bay Lightning center Anthony Cirelli, a repeat Selke finalist, finished second in voting with 467 points. Cirelli was followed closely by first-time Selke finalist Brock Nelson of the Colorado Avalanche, who garnered 406 points for third place. Points are allocated on a 10-7-5-3-1 basis for first through fifth place.
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 per 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.
2025-26 Selke Trophy Voting
Points
(1st-2nd-3rd-4th-5th)
1.
Nick Suzuki, MTL
1,726
(151-23-6-7-4)
2.
Anthony Cirelli, TBL
467
(10-34-18-10-9)
3.
Brock Nelson, COL
406
(4-28-22-16-12)
4.
Mitch Marner, VGK
356
(3-27-14-18-13)
5.
Jordan Staal, CAR
310
(7-14-19-12-11)
6.
Shane Pinto, OTT
288
(8-7-19-16-16)
7.
Jack Eichel, VGK
215
(1-10-15-15-15)
8.
Sebastian Aho, CAR
182
(4-7-15-4-6)
9.
Nico Hischier, NJD
149
(2-10-7-5-9)
10.
Yanni Gourde, TBL
130
(1-6-8-10-8)
11.
Noah Cates, PHI
123
(1-6-2-13-22)
12.
Joel Eriksson Ek, MIN
86
(0-2-9-7-6)
13.
Brandon Hagel, TBL
85
(1-5-6-2-4)
14.
Alex Tuch, BUF
75
(0-3-3-10-9)
15.
Nick Schmaltz, UTA
69
(0-1-5-10-7)
16.
Sam Reinhart, FLA
67
(1-1-5-6-7)
17.
Ryan O’Reilly, NSH
61
(1-3-2-5-5)
18.
Anze Kopitar, LAK
50
(0-2-2-7-5)
19.
Nathan MacKinnon, COL
32
(0-3-1-2-0)
20.
Michael Amadio, OTT
31
(0-2-1-1-9)
21.
Mark Stone, VGK
22
(1-0-2-0-2)
22.
Dylan Larkin, DET
21
(0-0-1-5-1)
23.
Charlie Coyle, CBJ
19
(0-0-2-3-0)
24.
Tom Wilson, WSH
18
(0-0-3-0-3)
25.
Valeri Nichushkin, COL
16
(0-0-2-2-0)
26.
Jordan Kyrou, STL
14
(0-1-0-2-1)
27.
Ryan McLeod, BUF
13
(1-0-0-1-0)
28.
Roope Hintz, DAL
13
(0-1-1-0-1)
29.
Aliaksei Protas, WSH
12
(0-1-1-0-0)
30.
Sidney Crosby, PIT
10
(1-0-0-0-0)
31.
Dylan Cozens, OTT
10
(0-0-2-0-0)
32.
Matt Boldy, MIN
8
(0-0-1-1-0)
33.
Justin Sourdif, WSH
7
(0-1-0-0-0)
34.
Blake Coleman, CGY
6
(0-0-1-0-1)
t-35.
Leon Draisaitl, EDM
5
(0-0-1-0-0)
Jake Guentzel, TBL
5
(0-0-1-0-0)
Parker Kelly, COL
5
(0-0-1-0-0)
38.
Jack Drury, COL
5
(0-0-0-1-2)
39.
Seth Jarvis, CAR
4
(0-0-0-1-1)
t-40.
Claude Giroux, OTT
3
(0-0-0-1-0)
Pontus Holmberg, TBL
3
(0-0-0-1-0)
Bo Horvat, NYI
3
(0-0-0-1-0)
Clayton Keller, UTA
3
(0-0-0-1-0)
Ilya Mikheyev, CHI
3
(0-0-0-1-0)
Pavel Zacha, BOS
3
(0-0-0-1-0)
46.
Alexander Wennberg, SJS
2
(0-0-0-0-2)
t-47.
Mikael Backlund, CGY
1
(0-0-0-0-1)
Lawson Crouse, UTA
1
(0-0-0-0-1)
Christian Dvorak, PHI
1
(0-0-0-0-1)
Mark Kastelic, BOS
1
(0-0-0-0-1)
Martin Necas, COL
1
(0-0-0-0-1)
Jean-Gabriel Pageau, NYI
1
(0-0-0-0-1)
Mikko Rantanen, DAL
1
(0-0-0-0-1)
(10-7-5-3-1 points allocation)
