Aarif Deen
Colorado Avalanche center Brock Nelson finished third in voting for the Selke Trophy. The 34-year-old was named a finalist after finishing his first full season with the Avs with 33 goals, 32 assists, and 65 points. The Selke Trophy is awarded to the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game.
Nelson trailed behind Nick Suzuki and Anthony Cirelli. He received four first-place votes, 28 second-place votes, and 22 third-place votes. He was also listed on 28 other ballots.
Nelson, however, was not the only Avalanche forward to receive votes. Four others, including top-line center Nathan MacKinnon, were listed on ballots. The others were Valeri Nichushkin, Parker Kelly, and Jack Drury.
MacKinnon finished 19th in voting, appearing on six ballots. He had two second-place votes, a third-place vote, and three third-place votes. Nichushkin was 25th, finishing with two third-place votes and two fourth-place votes. Kelly had one third-place vote while Drury had one fourth-place vote and two fifth-place votes.
The Selke Trophy is voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association. Once all the Award winners are revealed publicly, the PHWA will release the voting results for everyone who submitted a ballot.
I was honored to receive a ballot for the fifth year in a row. For transparency, the order of my ballot from first to fifth was Suzuki, Nelson, Jordan Staal, Cirelli, and Mitch Marner. They were all top five finishers in a slightly different order.