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NHL Breaks Tradition and Awards Selke Trophy Weeks Before Anticipated

Originally posted on House of Hockey | By Tom Banks | Last updated Jun 2, 2025 11:53 AM ET

Aleksander Barkov has been named the 2024/25 Selke Trophy award winner, but the NHL shocked their fans by announcing the award weeks early.

The Florida Panthers are on their way to the Stanley Cup Finals for the third consecutive season in 2025, and on Monday, the team got some great news on one of their most important players.

On Monday, it was announced that captain Aleksander Barkov has been given the Selke Trophy as the NHL's best defensive forward, an award that was well deserved for their fantastic leader.

However, many in the NHL world were shocked by the announcement, as these awards don't usually come until after the season but before the NHL Draft and free agency begins, with the league unveiling the award early this season.

It's unclear why this change was made, but it's clear that it came as a shock to Barkov, who was not expecting this, and alongside the Selke, he was also given the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, an award that is given to the player that best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice.

These awards show just how respected Barkov has become for the Florida Panthers as one of the best players on and off the ice in the NHL, and now, the team may have extra motivation to go and win back-to-back Stanley Cup's for their fearless leader.

It's not quite been made clear by the NHL if the schedule of announcing awards is going to be handled in this fashion moving forward or if this was a one-off, but ahead of the Stanley Cup Finals, it was a fun and unexpected change, so perhaps we will learn more about the NHL's motives here in the coming years.

This article first appeared on House of Hockey and was syndicated with permission.

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