Stone, O'Reilly, Bergeron named Selke finalists

Mark Stone, Ryan O'Reilly, and Patrice Bergeron are the finalists for the 2019 Selke Trophy as the NHL's top forward who best excels in defensive aspects of the game, the league announced Wednesday.

Stone, who was dealt to the Vegas Golden Knights at the trade deadline, is the lone winger up for the award but is certainly deserving of recognition. The 26-year-old notched a career-high 73 points while maintaining a Corsi For relative to his teammates of 8.6 and notching 122 takeaways. A winger hasn't won the award since Jere Lehtinen in 2002-03.

O'Reilly made a tremendous impact in his debut season with the St. Louis Blues, also hitting a career high in points with 77. He started over 50 percent of his even-strength shifts in the defensive zone and was dominant in the faceoff circle, winning 56.9 percent of his draws.

Bergeron is up for the award for a seventh consecutive year. If he's chosen, he'll be the only player in NHL history to win the Selke five times. The 33-year-old appeared in just 65 games this season but notched 79 points, boasted a Corsi For rating of 57 percent, and won 56.6 percent of his faceoffs.

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