Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov has won the Selke Trophy as the NHL’s best defensive forward for the second straight season.

Barkov has now won the Selke three times (2021, ’24, ’25) in his 12-season NHL career. Former Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron holds the all-time mark for most Selke wins with six.

Along with the Selke, Barkov was announced as the winner of the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, presented “to the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community.”

Barkov has been a longtime supporter of the Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital in Hollywood, Florida, a leading pediatric hospital that supports children with cancer, blood disorders, heart transplants, emergency care and rehabilitation. Several girls and boys from the hospital surprised Barkov with the two trophies at the Panthers’ practice facility recently.

“It was amazing,” Barkov told The Associated Press of receiving the awards from the kids. “I got a little emotional there. I didn’t really have words to say. That was very nicely done, and I was really thankful for everyone who was part of it.”

The NHL is announcing the winners of top individual awards a little differently this year, adding surprise elements with only a handful of people knowing what is happening ahead of time.

Barkov, 29, won the Selke by an impressive margin over linemate Sam Reinhart, a first-time finalist who finished second for the award. Barkov appeared on 173 of the 191 ballots as voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association and was the top choice on 96 of them. Reinhart had 29 first-place votes, tying him with Tampa Bay Lightning center Anthony Cirelli, another first-time finalist who finished third.

Barkov and Reinhart are the first teammates ever to finish first and second in Selke Trophy voting. This also marks the first time in 23 years that teammates have swept the top two positions for a voted-on NHL award.

The Panthers center helped his team to top-10 finishes in goals-against per game (7th), shots-against per game (5th) and penalty kill efficiency (10th). He ranked fourth among NHL forwards in shot-attempt percentage (59.3%), according to the NHL’s metrics.

The next two players outside the top three finalists were New Jersey Devils center Nico Hischier and Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel. Among the other players who received first-place votes were Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers, Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and two-time Selke winner Anze Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings.