"I'm truly honored and humbled to be nominated for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy," said Seeler. "Thank you to those who voted for me and to the entire Flyers organization for making these past two years feel like home. And of course, thank you to my family and close friends for always supporting me throughout my hockey journey. Go Flyers!"
"Nick is an excellent candidate for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy," said Interim General Manager, Daniel Briere. "Not only did he make tremendous strides in his own game, he proved to all of us that he is a heart and soul player on our team that can be counted on night in and night out no matter the circumstances."
Seeler, 29 (6/3/1993), owns career highs in games played (76), goals (4), assists (10), points (14), shots (83), blocked shots (157) and hits (124) this season. The 6-foot-2, 201-pound native of Eden Prairie, Minn., leads the Flyers in blocked shots and ranks second among team defensemen in hits. The left-shot blueliner recorded a career-high three-game point streak (1-2=3), Dec. 23-31, registered his first career shorthanded point (assist), Dec. 31 at LAK, tallied a career-high seven hits vs. LAK, Jan. 24, blocked a career-high seven shots twice, appeared in his 200th career NHL game vs. SEA, Feb. 12, skated in his 100th game as a Flyer vs. MTL, Feb. 24, and tied his career-high four shots in four games this season. He owns 17 points (5-12=17) and 83 penalty minutes (PIM) in 119 games in two seasons with the Flyers (2021-23).
Seeler has 29 points (7-22=29), 183 PIM and 204 shots in 224 career contests in five NHL seasons with Minnesota, Chicago and Philadelphia (2017-20, 2021-23). He tallied two assists in five Stanley Cup Playoff Contests with the Wild in 2018. He was selected by Minnesota in the fifth round (131st overall) of the 2011 NHL Draft.
The PHWA chapter in each market of the 32 NHL clubs nominates one player from that team to be considered for the Masterton. The three finalists, and ultimately the winner, are selected by a poll among the 32 chapters of the PHWA at the end of the regular season and is revealed during the NHL Awards Show.
The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy was presented by the NHL Writers' Association in 1968 to commemorate the late Bill Masterton, a player with the Minnesota North Stars, who exhibited to a high degree the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey, and who died January 15, 1968.
The Philadelphia Flyers have had four winners of the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy: Bobby Clarke (1971-72), Tim Kerr (1988-89), Ian Laperriere (2010-11) and Oskar Lindblom (2020-21).
Most recent Flyers nominees by the PHWA for the Masterton are:
2021-22: Kevin Hayes (finalist)
2020-21: Oskar Lindblom (winner)
2019-20: Oskar Lindblom (finalist)
2018-19: Brian Elliott
2017-18: Claude Giroux
2016-17: Pierre-Edouard Bellemare
2015-16: Shayne Gostisbehere
