Hurricanes’ Jordan Staal Named Frank J. Selke Trophy Finalist

Fast forward to the 2023-24 season, Staal is the second Hurricanes player to be named as a finalist for the Selke Trophy. The last player in the franchise to be named was Rod Brind’Amour who won it back in the 2006-07 season (also won it back in the 2005-06 season as well). He is going up against Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Florida Panthers’ Aleksander Barkov who were also named finalists.

For the 2023-24 season, Staal tallied 10 goals and 30 points in 80 games. In his career with the Hurricanes, he has accumulated 165 goals, 262 assists, and 427 points in 822 career games. Since joining the team by way of a trade before the 2012-13 season, he ranks fourth in franchise history in games played, sixth in points, and seventh in assists. He has been the captain of Carolina since 2019 and has been the centerpiece of the leadership core since then along with Slavin.

When asked about Staal being named a finalist, the former Hurricanes Selke Trophy winner and now head coach Brind’Amour stated, “I’m happy for him to get a little recognition for the type of player he is and has been for his whole career, really. I know it’s a big honor for him and well deserved too.” Brind’Amour knows how much this trophy means to guys like Staal who let their defensive side of the game shine more than just what goes on a scoresheet.

It shined more than ever during the 2023-24 season where he took the 14th-most face-offs in the NHL with 1,375. Also, he finished seventh with a 58.1 percent face-off percentage among players to take at least 500 face-offs during the regular season. Regarding the Hurricanes, Staal tied for the team lead in hits with 142 along with being second among the forward core with 41 blocked shots, and 25 takeaways in the process. That is someone who can rely on their defensive game to lock down the best lines on any team in the NHL while still leading the team to now six-straight first-round wins. Staal is the epitome of a defensive forward who can play a 200-foot game while using the lost art of being a lockdown center in a league where scoring is at an all-time high. If he wins, he will join Brind’Amour as the second Hurricanes player to win the Selke Trophy.

Award Finalists Announced Through May 8

The NHL will keep announcing the finalists for individual awards going through May 8 after starting the announcements back on April 29. The last two awards that will be announced are the Hart Trophy, given to the most valuable player in the NHL, and the Ted Lindsay Award, which goes to the most outstanding player as selected by the NHL Players’ Association, on May 7 and 8. After that, the winners of the trophies and awards will be announced at a later time.