2023 Selke Trophy winner debated by NHL.com

The 2023 NHL Awards will be held at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on Monday (8 p.m. ET; TNT, SN, TVAS). A total of 11 award winners will be announced at the ceremony, and the General Manager of the Year winner will be announced during the 2023 Upper Deck NHL Draft on Wednesday, also in Nashville.

In the lead-up to the events, NHL.com writers will debate who they think should win most of the awards. Today, columnist Nicholas J. Cotsonika and staff writers Tom Gulitti and William Douglas debate the Selke Trophy, which is given annually to the League's best defensive forward.

The three finalists this year are Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins, Nico Hischier of the New Jersey Devils and Mitchell Marner of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Cotsonika: This is the 12th straight season the Professional Hockey Writers Association has voted Bergeron a finalist for the Selke, and he has won it a record five times, in 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2022. I'd be surprised if the Bruins captain doesn't win it again based on his reputation and the regular season Boston had, setting NHL records for wins (65) and points (135). Not that the 37-year-old doesn't deserve it. Start with face-offs: Bergeron took 1,706, second in the NHL to Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, who took 1,846. Among players who took more than 1,000 face-offs, he ranked first in the NHL at 61.1 percent. He won 61.8 percent of his face-offs in the defensive zone, also first in the League. The opponents can't score if they don't have the puck.

Gulitti: It took until Hischier's sixth NHL season for him to be recognized as a Selke finalist for the first time, but you could tell from his rookie season of 2017-18 that he was the kind of well-rounded player who would be talked about in the company of Bergeron once he was established in the League. He will win the Selke eventually. Why not this season? Hischier's two-way play was a significant part of the Devils, who had one of the youngest teams in the NHL, taking a big step this season, setting franchise records with 52 wins and 112 points to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2017-18. The 24-year-old established NHL career highs with 31 goals, 49 assists and 80 points to finish second on New Jersey behind Jack Hughes (99 points). Hischier was second among the Devils forwards in average ice time (19:17), including 2:06 per game short-handed, which was most among their forwards. He also led New Jersey's forwards in takeaways with 64 and was second with 61 blocked shots. Hischier led the Devils and was fifth in the NHL in taking 1,654 face-offs, winning 53.9 percent, including 57.8 percent in the defensive zone.

Douglas:Marner has proven he's more than a scoring machine for the Maple Leafs and worthy of his first Selke Trophy nomination. He led the NHL with 104 takeaways and was third for Toronto with 45 blocked shots. He averaged 21:17 of ice time, second to Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly (21:42). His 2:17 per game while short-handed was second among Toronto forwards behind David Kampf (2:38). Marner accomplished this while leading the Maple Leafs with an NHL career-high 99 points (30 goals, 69 assists) in 80 games. It's easy to see why he could become the first Maple Leafs forward to win the Selke since Doug Gilmour in 1993.

Cotsonika:Sorry, guys. No one has convinced me Bergeron shouldn't win the Selke this season. To me, the only question is how much longer he will play? Bergeron, who needs a new contract, certainly seems to have a lot left in the tank. Not only is he a stalwart defensively, he's still excellent offensively; he had 58 points (27 goals, 31 assists) in 78 games last season. Why can't he continue to play at a high level? But if Bergeron decides to retire, and even if he doesn't win the Selke this season, his legacy is secure. He won the Stanley Cup in 2011 and the Mark Messier Leadership Award in 2021. Bob Gainey is next in the Selke standings with four wins. Guy Carbonneau, Pavel Datsyuk and Jere Lehtinen follow with three wins each. Bergeron is headed to the Hockey Hall of Fame someday.

Gulitti:There's no question Bergeron is one of the best two-way forwards in NHL history and will end up in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Hischier can only hope to come close to his career. But for this season, they are pretty close. Bergeron was plus-35; Hischier was plus-33. Bergeron had a 59.7 shot attempts percentage 5-on-5; Hischier had a 55.0 SAT percentage 5-on-5. Hischier played nearly two minutes more per game than Bergeron's average ice time (17:24), and Bergeron's 1:46 in ice time short-handed was third among Bruins forwards while, as mentioned previously, Hischier led the Devils forwards in the category. And Bergeron played for a team that was deeper in all areas, but particularly on defense and in goal. Yet, the Devils (28.2) allowed fewer shots on goal per game than the Bruins (29.8).

Douglas:I second Tom in praising Bergeron's defensive excellence over the course of what should be a Hockey Hall of Fame career. But Marner had a 53.3 shot attempts percentage 5-on-5 and averaged 21:17 of ice time, versus Bergeron's 17:24 and Hischier's 19:17. Marner, in my view, represents the best of the next generation of two-way NHL players.