Flyers’ Sean Couturier wins Selke Trophy as NHL’s top defensive forward

Sean Couturier received the Frank J. Selke Trophy for his stellar defensive play as a forward.

Philadelphia Flyers centre Sean Couturier has won the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the NHL’s top defensive forward for the first time in his career.

Boston Bruins centre Patrice Bergeron, a four-time winner, and St. Louis Blues centre Ryan O’Reilly, last season’s winner, were the other finalists.

The award was presented virtually to Couturier by Seattle Kraken general manager Ron Francis, who won the award himself in 1995.

“It’s a great honour… Without my teammates, it wouldn’t be possible,” Couturier said while accepting the award. “Teammates, coaching staff, management, the whole organization… without them believing in me and helping me out throughout the year I wouldn’t be a winner.”

Couturier, 27, was also a finalist for the award in 2018 and has been a steady two-way player for the Flyers for his entire nine-year career. This season, he led the NHL in faceoff winning-percentage (59.6) and led the Flyers in even-strength scoring (46), ice-time by a forward (19:50) and plus-minus (plus-21).

The Selke Trophy is voted on annually by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association at the end of the regular season.

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