NHL names Bergeron, O'Reilly, Stone as Selke Trophy finalists

The NHL kicked off the awards season on Wednesday by naming Patrice Bergeron, Ryan O'Reilly and Mark Stone as the finalists for the Selke Trophy honoring the league's best defensive forward. The winner is selected in a poll of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association at the end of the regular season and will be announced at the 2019 NHL Awards in Las Vegas on June 19.

A four-time Selke winner and a finalist for the eighth straight year, Bergeron tallied 32 goals and 79 points with a plus-23 rating in 65 games for the Boston Bruins. The 33-year-old veteran was second in the league in offensive-zone faceoff success rate (59.7 percent) and fifth in power-play faceoff wins (162). O'Reilly, 28, scored 28 goals and a team-high 77 points in his first season with the St. Louis Blues. He played in all 82 games and led the club with a plus-22 rating. His success rate in the faceoff circle was 56.9 percent.

Stone, 26, was traded by the Ottawa Senators to the Vegas Golden Knights on Feb. 25. He appeared in a combined 77 games and tallied career highs with 33 goals and 73 points. He led the league with 122 takeaways, 22 more than runner-up Aleksander Barkov of the Florida Panthers. 

(With inputs from agencies.)