Patrice Bergeron is a finalist for the Frank J. Selke Trophy.
We saw that coming in October, right?
The Boston Bruins center was officially named a finalist Monday for a record ninth time. A fifth Selke Trophy for Bergeron would give him the most in NHL history. He's currently tied with Montreal Canadiens legend Bob Gainey at four wins.
Get the latest news and analysis on all of your teams from NBC Sports Boston by downloading the My Teams App
The award is given annually to “the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game.”
St. Louis Blues center Ryan O'Reilly, who won the award last season, also was named a finalist. Philadelphia Flyers center Sean Couturier is the other finalist. O'Reilly is hoping to be the first back-to-back Selke winner since Bergeron accomplished the feat in 2013-14 and 2014-15.
Bergeron scored 31 goals with 25 assists in 61 regular season games. He also won 57.9 percent of his faceoffs, excelled on the penalty kill, consistently defended the opposing team's top line at a high level and helped the Bruins dominate puck possession by controlling 56.3 percent of 5-on-5 shot attempts when he was on the ice.
All three players are very deserving of this award. Couturier has been knocking at the door for a few years now, so it wouldn't be surprising if he finally broke through and won. That said, Bergeron was arguably the most valuable player on a Bruins team that dominated the regular season as Presidents' Trophy winners.