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NEW YORK — Forwards Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart of the Florida Panthers and Anthony Cirelli of the Tampa Bay Lightning were named the finalists for the Frank J. Selke Trophy on Friday.
Voting for the award — presented annually to the league’s top defensive forward — was conducted by the Professional Hockey Writers Association.
Barkov, Florida’s captain, is a finalist for the fourth time in five years. He’s attempting to join Patrice Bergeron, Pavel Datsyuk and Rod Brind’Amour as back-to-back winners in the past 25 years.
Reinhart served as a penalty-kill leader with Florida while leading the team with 81 points (39 goals, 42 assists). The Panthers had a club-record 12 short-handed goals this season, with Reinhart recording five, making him the first player to register five or more short-handed goals in consecutive seasons since Philadelphia’s Mike Richards (2007-’08, 2008-09).
Barkov and Reinhart are the first teammates voted Selke finalists since Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg of the Detroit Red Wings finished first and third, respectively, in voting in 2007-08.
Cirelli recorded a career-best plus-30 rating this season to stand seventh among NHL forwards. He also had 59 points (27 goals, 32 assists) while registering seven short-handed points (four goals, three assists) to stand tied for second in the NHL.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 2, 2025.
The Canadian Press
