Montreal Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki was named the recipient of the Frank J. Selke Trophy on Friday, awarded to the NHL forward who “best excels in the defensive aspect of the game.”Suzuki received 151 first-place votes on 198 ballots, handily beating out fellow finalists Anthony Cirelli of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Brock Nelson of the Colorado Avalanche, who finished in second and third, respectively.Members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association select the winner of the Selke Trophy, which, since its creation in the late 1970s, has evolved into an award recognizing the league’s top two-way forward — and Suzuki’s contributions at both ends were massive in leading the Canadiens to the Eastern Conference finals, where they fell in five games to the Carolina Hurricanes.With Florida Panthers star and three-time Selke recipient Aleksander Barkov (2021, 2024, 2025) sidelined by injury all season, Suzuki picked a perfect time to have a career season. His 101 points ranked sixth leaguewide, including a personal-best 72 assists that ranked fifth. Suzuki added another 16 points in 19 playoff games.Suzuki, who finished 13th in Selke voting after each of the two previous seasons, wasn’t just an offensive standout in 2025-26. At five-on-five, per Natural Stat Trick, the 26-year-old center was on the ice for 33 more goals than his team allowed, leading Montreal with an on-ice goals-for rate of 64.9 percent. While winning more than 50 percent of his faceoffs for the third straight season, he also led Montreal forwards in ice time (20:49) and takeaways (29).