Montreal Canadiens centre and captain Nick Suzuki of London, Ontario won the 2026 Frank J. Selke Trophy on Friday. The award is presented annually to the best defensive forward in the National Hockey League.
Suzuki had a career season for the Canadiens. He had career highs in assists (72), points (101), plus/minus (+37), power-play points (43), and faceoff wins (731). He also had 29 goals, 28 penalty minutes, one shorthanded point, two game-winning goals, 183 shots on goal, 62 blocked shots, 62 hits, 29 takeaways and 72 giveaways. Suzuki was 10th in plus/minus in the NHL.
Suzuki’s first game-winning goal of the season came on December 30 in a 3-2 Canadiens win over the Florida Panthers. Suzuki scored from defensemen Noah Dobson of Summerside, Prince Edward Island and Lane Hutson at 3:24 of overtime on the power-play. Suzuki’s second game-winning goal of the season came on March 7 in a 4-3 Canadiens win over the Los Angeles Kings. Suzuki broke a 3-3 tie with four minutes and 33 seconds left. Juraj Slafkovsky and Cole Caufield had the assists.
The shorthanded point for Suzuki was a shorthanded goal. It came on January 29 in a 7-3 Canadiens win over the Colorado Avalanche. Suzuki scored from defenseman Mike Matheson of Pointe-Claire, Quebec and Oliver Kapanen at 7:33 of the first period and put the Canadiens up 3-1 at the time.
Suzuki is the third Canadiens player to win the Selke Trophy. The first two were also Canadian. Bob Gainey of Peterborough, Ontario won the award for four straight years from 1978 to 1981 (first four years the award was in existence), and Guy Carbonneau of Sept-Iles, Quebec won the award in 1988, 1989, and 1992.
