Bobby Ryan Deserves Selke Consideration

The Selke trophy is certainly an interesting one. Described as the award given to the NHL’s best defensive forward, the voting often sees a large group of nominees, where Bobby Ryan‘s dedication and drive has earned him a chance to be in the conversation.

In past years, we’ve seen your typical guys selected. The Patrice Bergeron‘s, Jonathan Toews‘ and Pavel Datsyuk‘s of the league have all won it.

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However, with an award voted upon by opinion and where elected voters select player in spots from 1 to 5, there is often a lot of variance as we deal with a variable defined by opinion.

So, when looking at Bobby Ryan, we see his efforts are worth some consideration for the Selke trophy.

Let’s start off with the simple, yet controversial plus/minus. I think the stat is near dead for most, especially with the new analytics movement. However, in what was once considered a good determining factor (could still be, by some) in choosing a Selke candidate, Bobby Ryan has been good in that department for Ottawa.

Oh, and btw.. apparently Bobby Ryan values the +/- stat as well.

The statement from Ryan has held up this year, as well. Ryan has only dipped below a minus-1 once this season, in recording a -2 effort vs New York a few weeks ago. We’ve seen Ryan be a +3 on numerous occasions as he continues to be one of the few positive full-time roster players.

But let’s go deeper, let’s look at some specifics.

Remember, this is an award that can’t be defined by a statistic. But rather, the effort and drive a player possesses to help his team in both zones of the ice. This season, we’ve seen some hard back-checking and determination from Mr. Ryan.

This play from November vs Florida shows what we’ve seen from Bobby at times this year. A solid back-check that prevents a goal in a close game.

Here we see another one. Ryan back checks hard to stop a scoring chance from being created vs St Louis. This one in OT. In the dying seconds, too.

The two plays are identical, really. And it’s nice to see Bobby hustle when he’s determined to help his team. Bobby Ryan has been known to float or take shifts off at times in the past, but this year I’ve felt he’s bought into the system and tried night in and night out to help Ottawa earn a “W”.

Looking at Ryan’s play his physical game has appeared to have stepped-up. Each night we see a driven and determined Ryan when fighting for the puck to generate chances. You can look at Ryan’s big hits, and you can look at how he’s been physical each night.

At the 50 game mark, Ryan has 70 hits on the year. That’s good enough for a top 5 spot on Ottawa and good enough to realize Ryan’s impact in winning battles and being committed to 2 zone play.

I’m not saying Ryan has a shot at winning this award. Ottawa has been a poor defensive team and usually the winners/candidates do come from good teams.

However, I do think Bobby needs to be given some consideration, especially with an award where the voting is often very vast.

Consideration for the Selke wouldn’t be new for Bobby, as he did receive a vote from in 2009-10. Maybe if a hard working 2nd half pays off, Ryan gets a small look again.

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