Ryan O’Reilly nominated for the Frank J. Selke Trophy

Ryan O’Reilly could be having another stand-out awards season. The forward, who was nominated for the Lady Byng Trophy on Thursday, was part of the trio nominated for the Frank J. Selke Trophy today. The Selke Trophy is awarded “to the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game,” and all three nominees exemplify that. O’Reilly shares the honor with the Bruins’ Patrice Bergeron and the Flyers’ Sean Couturier.

Ryan O’Reilly, you may remember, was last year’s award winner. If he wins again this year, he could be the first back-to-back Selke winner since Bergeron won in 2014 and 2015.

From the NHL’s press release:

O’Reilly (12-49—61 in 71 GP) – the reigning Selke Trophy winner – led the NHL in face-off victories (880) for the third consecutive season, making him the third player to achieve that feat since the statistic was introduced in 1997-98 (joining Bergeron: 4x from 2014-17 and Rod Brind’Amour: 3x from 2004-07). O’Reilly also topped the League in percentage of team face-offs taken (38.7%) while ranking 10th in face-off winning percentage (56.6%), the fifth straight season he has cleared the 55-percent mark. O’Reilly, who last week was named a Lady Byng Memorial Trophy finalist, finished seventh in the League with 69 takeaways while only taking five minor penalties in 1,460:45 of total playing time, 10th among NHL forwards.

O’Reilly was the first Blue to win the Selke Trophy since Rick Meagher in 1990.