Bergeron, who won last year, was the NHL’s top face-off man this season at 62.1 percent. He ranked sixth overall and led the Bruins in plus-minus with a plus-24 rating and played an average of 2:12 per game with his team short-handed.

Toews, a Selke finalist for the second time, finished third in the NHL in plus-minus with a career-high plus-28 rating and placed second in the NHL in face-off winning percentage with 59.9 percent.

Datsyuk, a three-time winner, tied with Toews for the league lead in takeaways with 56, topped the Red Wings in plus-minus at plus-21 and won 55 percent of faceoffs.

It is the first time each finalist has been among the final three in Norris consideration and the field is absent traditional presences like 2009 winner Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins and Shea Weber of the Nashville Predators, who finished as runner-up in each of the past two seasons.

According to the league’s ruling, Ference “made a decision to check Grabovski after playing the puck. However, in doing so he lunges toward Grabovski, extending his left arm and shoulder, picking Grabovski’s head and making it the principal point of contact.”

Early in the first period of the Bruins’ 4-1 series-opening win over the Maple Leafs, Ference came up high with his elbow as he skated past Grabovski and connected with the opposing player’s head.

There was no penalty called on the play, but the replay clearly showed Ference raising his elbow to make contact. Grabovski did not appear to be injured on the play.

Ference went unpunished in the first period of Boston’s 4-1 playoff win Wednesday night when he elbowed Grabovski in the head by the boards.

The NHL said it was reviewing an illegal check to the head. Grabovski finished the game.

Asked about the hit after the game, Boston coach Claude Julien said he hadn’t seen it and couldn’t comment.

Toronto coach Randy Carlyle said it was part of the “physicality” of the playoffs.

“It’s a game that’s made to be physical,” he said. “You’re allowed to hit people.

“To judge if it was offside, a bad hit, or a belligerent hit, that’s not for me to judge. That’s for people in the league to make those determinations.”

The 40-year-old forward from Flint, Mich., did not play this season after splitting time with the New York Islanders and Boston Bruins in 2011-12.

As a rookie, he helped the Devils win the Cup in the 1994-95 season. He also played for Colorado and Minnesota and completed his career with 342 goals, 419 assists and 761 points. His top offensive season was 2005-06 with the Wild — 34 goals and 45 assists.

“Getting the chance to play the game I love for 17 years has truly been a dream come true,” Rolston said in a statement. “My career has taken me to many great places where I had the privilege to play with some exceptional teammates and in the best league in the world.

“The memories of all my experiences will certainly stick with me for the rest of my life. I am grateful for the overwhelming support of my friends, family and fans throughout my career.”

Rolston also played for the U.S. at three Winter Olympics, two World Cup of Hockey tournaments and one world championship.

According to the report, the sides are waiting for the Swedish Ice Hockey Association to approve the transfer of Soderberg from Linkoping in the Elitserien, the top Swedish professional league, to the Bruins.

Soderberg can play immediately for the Bruins and will be eligible to play in the Stanley Cup Playoffs because the team already held his rights. Chosen by the St. Louis Blues in the second round of the 2004 NHL Draft, he was acquired by the Bruins in 2007 in exchange for goaltender Hannu Toivonen. Boston long had been trying to lure the 6-foot-3, 218-pound forward to the NHL, but until now he had elected to stay in Sweden.

In 54 games with Linkoping this season, Soderberg had a league-high 31 goals was second with 60 points. Linkoping and Soderberg were eliminated from the SEL playoffs last Friday.

In 2011-12, Soderberg was second on his team in points (35) and assists (21), and was tied for second in goals (14).

Prior to joining Linkoping, he skated in 219 games with the Malmo Redhawks from 2005-10, totaling 80 goals and 159 assists. In his first full season with the club, 2005-06, he had 39 points in 39 games to help the team win promotion from Allsvenskan, the Swedish first division, to the Elitserien.

Holland made competitive offers for several players in the final week prior to the deadline, but nothing materialized.

“When you look at what transpired, you can figure out who we would have had some interest in,” Holland told the News. “At the end of the day we didn’t get it done and it was for a whole host of reasons.”

It’s believed the Wings were not interested in trading away some of their top young talent in exchange for short-term fixes.

The Wings had pursued Jay Bouwmeester, but were not willing to trade Calgary a first-round draft pick. As a result, the Flames dealt Bouwmeester to the St. Louis Blues.

Future Hall of Fame right wing Jaromir Jagr was also a target of Holland’s, but the Dallas Stars ended up shipping him to the Boston Bruins.

“We don’t need depth players,” Holland said. “From a depth standpoint, we have players on our team. We’re going to go with the kids.”

The Red Wings have been decimated by injuries this season, but are expected to get forwards Todd Bertuzzi, Mikael Samuelsson and Darren Helm, and defenseman Kyle Quincey back in the next couple weeks.

Meanwhile, Wings forward Valtteri Filppula is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent July 5, but he’s expressed an interest in staying with the team.

“It’s been a great place to be, a great team obviously,” he told the News. “You want to be on that kind of team.”

Filppula and the Wings are expected to continue contract negotiations, though it’s unclear when talks will get serious. It’s possible the two sides will push talks off until Detroit’s season is over.

• Following one of the more surprising trade-deadline deals, a fresh start awaits Marian Gaborik with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch proposes Gaborik will play on the Blue Jackets top line alongside center Ryan Johansen and left winger R.J. Umberger starting Thursday against the Nashville Predators. It’s a role GM Jarmo Kekalainen hopes the 31-year-old fills for a good long while.
  
• The Boston Bruins aren’t asking Wade Redden snagged in a deal with the St. Louis Blues to play each and every game. Or even most games. As discussed by Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe, the Bruins hope the veteran defenseman is able to satisfactorily fill in as injury relief, or if one of the kids hits a rough patch.
• Even a fire sale can have its limitations. Turns out forward Curtis Glencross and defenseman Mark Giordano weren’t available after all. According to the Calgary Sun, Glencross and Giordano topped a very short list of Calgary Flames ‘untouchables’ ahead of Wednesday’s trade deadline.