One surprising Bruins forward in the conversation for a major individual award

The Boston Bruins and their fans are no strangers to the Selke Trophy. Patrice Bergeron owned the award for a large part of his career, winning it a record six times. There was an argument that Brad Marchand should've been in the conversation more in his career as well, thanks to his penalty killing prowess, but his two-way linemate obviously overshadowed him.

The Bruins would love to have a two-way center like Bergeron back in their lineup. Since his departure, two-way play up front has been one of the main concerns, and is the reason why they spent a lot of money to bring Elias Lindholm into the fold.

In this surprising 2025-26 season, the Bruins now have a forward who, by the analytics, could be in the conversation for the Selke Trophy. It isn't Lindholm, but it is, in fact, Mark Kastelic?

I think we are all aware that Kastelic isn't going to get enough love for the voters to win this award. The Bruins would likely have to get the top spot in the East and Kastelic would have to get the matchup against the game's best and hold them to zero goals the rest of the way for people to even start mentioning it. However, these advanced analytics and the players he is with on the list are an accomplishment on their own.

One surprising Bruins forward in the conversation for a major individual award

Some of the players on the list don't even play on the penalty kill for their respective teams. Others are getting alot of their defensive value from their penalty kill minutes and aren't as good as Kastelic at five-on-five.

There's an argument that from this list, Kastelic is one of the most most all-around defensive forwards. His value is brought up from both his five-on-five and penalty killing play, which only Sam Steel and Brandon Hagel can say.

Steel has been a pleasure to watch on the penalty kill, and he is another underrated defensive piece at five-on-five. While he might be the most deserving of the award, it'll likely be Brandon Hagel or Nick Suzuki who eventually steals the award.

If I had to put a bet on one player right now, it'd likely be Suzuki if the Montreal Canadiens can find their way back to the playoffs. It's unfortunate for Kastelic, but Suzuki has been the "next Bergeron" since before the future Hall of Famer even retired.

With Aleksander Barkov out for the season with an injury and other two-way forwards having down years, it seems like the perfect time for the voters to give Suzuki his credit. However, it'll be interesting to see whether last year's finalists, Sam Reinhart and Anthony Cirelli, sneak back into the conversation if the voters ignore advanced stats.