St. Louis Blues center Ryan O’Reilly won the Frank J. Selke Trophy for”the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game,” as selected by the Professional Hockey Writers Association.
O’Reilly garnered 1,001 voting points, including 48 first-place votes, to edge second-place right wing Mark Stone of the Vegas Golden Knights (881 voting points). Center Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins, a Selke finalist for an unprecedented eighth consecutive year and owner of a record-tying four Selke wins, finished third with 809 points.
O’Reilly led the NHL in face-off wins for the second consecutive season (1,086), joining Bergeron (2013-14 through 2016-17) as the only player to post 1,000+ face-off wins in four straight seasons since the statistic was introduced in 1997-98. O’Reilly’s face-off win percentage (56.9%, min. 750) ranked seventh in the NHL. He led the Blues in plus-minus (+22) and topped all St. Louis forwards in average ice time per game (20:46).
Blues goalie Jordan Binnington was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team. Craig Berube lost out on the Jack Adams award which goes to the Coach of the Year. That went to Barry Trotz of the Islanders.
