Hurricanes’ Jordan Staal Makes Case to Win the Selke Trophy

In a season where the Carolina Hurricanes are en route to their eighth consecutive Stanley Cup Playoff appearance, there has been a plethora of contributions up and down the lineup. From Seth Jarvis about to achieve 30 goals in three-straight seasons, to Jackson Blake having a career sophomore season, to Brandon Bussi’s historical run, there has been a ton to celebrate in Raleigh. When it comes to captain Jordan Staal, he is on a scoring run unlike any he’s been on in a while. On top of that, he is still being the rock for Rod Brind’Amour‘s team, and at 37 years old, it’s time for Staal to win the Frank J. Selke Trophy.

Staal for the Selke

The Selke Trophy is given annually to the forward who demonstrates the most skill in the defensive component of the game. Over the course of his 20-year NHL career, Staal has finished in the Top-5 of Selke votes three times and in the Top-10 six times. In 2023-24, he finished in his highest place, second, behind the Florida Panthers’ Aleksander Barkov. Last season, he finished 11th, which saw the Selke go to Barkov again. For all he has done for the Hurricanes: Being the captain, being one of the hardest men to face in the faceoff dot, being a stout penalty killer, and being an underrated two-way defensive forward in the NHL, Staal has more than done enough to make a case to win the Selke.

Over the last few seasons, the Trophy usually went to Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins, and now, most recently, Barkov. Staal has made a case to win it on multiple occasions, but has always fallen short. Overall, individual awards don’t go to Hurricanes players that often outside of Jaccob Slavin’s Lady Byng. Even Brind’Amour won the Selke in 2006 and 2007; he’s also won the Jack Adams Award as coach.

This season, Staal has 18 goals and 31 points in 68 games; the last time Staal had 20 goals in a season was in 2015-16. The last time he scored 20-plus goals was in 2011-12 with the Pittsburgh Penguins when he finished with 25. The last time he won less than 50% of his faceoffs was the 2010-11 season, when he won 46.9%. Since then, he has been a force in terms of winning faceoffs.

Staal has been Brind’Amour’s safety valve when it comes to shutting down other teams’ star players, whether it’s 5-on-5 or the penalty kill. Since joining the Hurricanes in 2012-13, Staal has only had two seasons in which he had more than 40 penalty minutes. One of his best characteristics is staying available for Tim Gleason and the penalty kill.

This season, Staal has shown on both sides of the ice why he has a legitimate chance to win the Selke. From his 19.1% shooting percentage — the second-best of his career following his 22.1% shooting percentage as a rookie in 2006-07 — to his 54.9% Corsi For, to his 54.9 winning percentage in the dot, he’s been a force once again.

While it’s still anyone’s guess who will win the 2025-26 Selke, Staal has more than done enough to put himself into consideration as a finalist. More than that, he has shown he can get it done on both sides of the ice, especially in his new role on the power play, which has helped the Hurricanes to within the top-10 in the NHL. Overall, Staal is having a monster season and is making a case to bring home some individual hardware. With 11 games left in the regular season, can Staal keep building his case to win the Selke?