Finalists for the Frank J. Selke Trophy Selected
This year's finalists for the Frank J. Selke Trophy are Aleksander Barkov from the Florida Panters, Auston Matthews from the Toronto Maple Leaf's and Jordan Staal from the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Selke Trophy is awarded annually to the best forward demonstrating defensive skillfulness on a hockey team and it looks like fans think Alexander Barkov from the Florida Panthers deserves it more than the others. When interviewed Barkov states that while he does in fact try to work on being the best in his position it is always helpful to have support from coaches and peers. Barkov seems like a very down-to-earth person and it could be one of the reasons many fans like him too. Fans state that Barkov is the obvious choice, but that Jordan Staal from the Carolina Hurricanes was overdue for recognition as well. Fans did not have kind things to say about Matthews. Fans think Matthews should not even be an option.
The NHL tracking data seems to agree with fans as it has recorded the puck being on the ice between the opponent's blue line almost 47% of the time when Barkov has been on the ice. Staal also has impressive data in the puck possession metric SAT% with the Hurricanes reckoning for 61.9% of all shot ventures on 5-5 when Staal was on the ice. While Matthews has similar tracking data to Barkov fans have made up their mind about who has their vote.
While I am neutral to whether or not Matthews should be a finalist or not, I do think I agree with fans that the Selke trophy should be given to Barkov or Staal. The Frank J. Selke Trophy will be awarded May 6th good luck to all three finalists.
