Not one but two Bruins players are the current frontrunners for the Selke Trophy
The Selke Trophy is awarded annually to «the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game.»
Boston Bruins fans are definitely familiar with the Frank J. Selke Trophy as current team captain Patrice Bergeron is one of two four-time recipients of the award.
In an article published earlier today, The Athletic took a deep dive at who some of the front-runners for the NHL awards could be.
Thanks to some off the charts metrics, Bergeron is once again being considered for this year's Selke Trophy.
As we pointed out last week, the B's forward is currently enjoying one of the best seasons of his career.
But Bergeron isn't the only Bruins member to excel defensively this year. His linemate Brad Marchand has also been receiving lots of attention thanks to his stellar play away from the puck.
There is no other name worthy of the Selke this year. It's Bergeron's to lose and any other name cast at the top would be a slight to the historically dominant season he's putting together.
There is frankly no other choice, this should be unanimous », mentioned Dom Luszczyszyn in his article.
For the advanced stats fans out there, the piece mentions how the Bruins allow 0.43 expected goals less when Bergy is on the ice this season, 0.74 actual goals fewer and just 1.43 expected goals-per-60. Those are all career highs for the captain, with his expected goal rate tying Sergei Fedorov for the best since the 2007-08 campaign.
In other words, no other forward has allowed fewer scoring chances per game than Bergeron has this season, and he's done it by facing off against his opponents' top players more often than not.
Whether Marchand manages to outplay Bergeron is the final weeks of the season or not, the Bruins can be proud to see their offensive studs getting some recognition for their defensive work as well.
