Panthers duo joins rare company as teammates to be finalists for Selke Trophy
Florida Panthers forwards Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart on Friday were named two of three finalists for the NHL’s Selke Trophy, given annually to “the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game.”
Barkov and Reinhart are the first pair of teammates nominated as finalists for the Selke in the same year since Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg for the Detroit Red Wings in 2008.
They are the fifth pair overall. The others: Sergei Fedorov and Steve Yzerman with the Red Wings in 1996, Dirk Graham and Steve Larmer with the Chicago Blackhawks in 1991, and Craig Ramsay and Don Luce with the Buffalo Sabres in 1980.
Barkov is a finalist for the award for the fourth time in his career and has won the honor twice, in 2021 and 2024. For Reinhart, this is his first time as a finalist, although he did finish fourth last year.
Barkov led the Panthers this season with 51 assists and was second on the team with 71 points. He won 56.5 percent of his faceoffs, the ninth-highest win rate among players who took at least 1,000 draws this season.
Reinhart, meanwhile, led Florida in goals (39), power-play goals (13), short-handed goals (5) and points (81) for the second consecutive season, while also leading Panthers forwards in average ice time per game (20:30) and blocked shots (62). His five short-handed goals were tied for the third most among NHL skaters.
Barkov and Reinhart also played significant minutes on both Florida’s power play and penalty kill, the latter of which was the 10th best in the NHL during the regular season with a 80.7-percent success rate.
“It gives you a bit of insight into how fun it is to coach this team,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “Really critical pieces to our team. All very, very talented men that will not cheat the game for the offensive payoff. They certainly produce for us, but their mindset is to play the game the right way. If there’s an offensive play there, they’re gonna make it. What great examples for our players.”
The Tampa Bay Lightning’s Anthony Cirelli is the other finalist.
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