Nick Suzuki Nominated For the Selke Trophy

With Suzuki being named a nominee for the Selke Trophy, he is now the 3rd Habs player to be in contention for a major award this season, after Cole Caufield, who is one of the three nominees for the Lady Byng, and Ivan Demidov, who is one of three rookies up for the Calder Trophy. The last time that the Habs had 3 players nominated for a major award was all the way back during the 1988-89 season when Mats Naslund was up for the Lady Byng, Patrick Roy for the Vezina, and Chris Chelios for the Norris. It was arguably the last year where the Habs held true power around the league before the days of greatness started to fade out ever since. However this version of the Habs is bringing that greatness back.

Having three separate players up for major awards is a sign of just how great this season has gone for the Habs. Not to mention, there is still a slight possibility that Lane Hutson could be named as one of the top three defensemen for the Norris Trophy on Thursday when the nominees are announced. However, there are probably three others that will get the nod over him as he finished 4th in points among defensemen while also being underrated around the league for his defensive abilities.

Among the three Habs players being nominated for awards, Suzuki is the most likely to win his award, as there has been lots of speculation all season that he is the favourite to win the Selke Trophy with Florida Panthers forward Aleksander Barkov and the 3-time winner being out for the year with an ACL/MCL tear. Suzuki seized that opportunity by putting up both his best offensive and defensive numbers of his NHL career.

The only real competition that Suzuki had this year for the Selke Trophy was Cirelli, who may be the best pure shutdown centre in the league, but voters tend to go for the mix of points and defensive impact, which is why Suzuki seems like he has the edge. One thing that may hurt Suzuki’s case, however, is that he isn’t used a ton on the penalty kill despite being one of the Habs’ top shutdown forwards at even strength, because the Canadiens want him to get as much power play time as possible without him playing too much in a game. The way things work with Martin St. Louis and his coaching staff is that they like to have guys who focus on the penalty kill and others on the power play. The Habs have more guys who can cover Suzuki’s penalty kill impact as opposed to what he does on the power play, hence why he is primarily used in the offensive situations of special teams. Nonetheless, his defensive metrics should be good enough to cover his lack of penalty kill ice time.

If Suzuki does in fact win the Selke Trophy, he will be the third ever Canadiens player to do so and first since Guy Carbonneau won in the 1991-92 campaign. He would also be the first 100+ point scorer to win since Sergei Fedorov in the 1995-96 season.

Do you think Nick Suzuki will win the Selke Trophy?