The Norris Trophy is awarded annually to the defenceman “who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position,” and that’s where the debate rages on amongst hockey fans.
There were many standout performances from the back end this past season with one clearly standing above the rest from a statistical point of view, but was it the best example of "all-round ability"?
Only three defencemen will be named finalists, with the league set to announce them Thursday, but here are a handful that deserved consideration based on their 2022-23 campaigns.
The San Jose Sharks veteran and two-time Norris winner is the clear favourite in this category. Betting odds are by no means an exact science but it’s no coincidence Karlsson closed out the season as a heavy favourite. According to oddsmakers, it would be a big-time upset if anyone other than Karlsson takes home the award.
If the award was given specifically to the NHL’s top defensive defenceman then he likely wouldn’t be considered a frontrunner. That’s not exactly how it works, though, and his incredible offensive production might end up being the difference.
Karlsson became the first defenceman in more than 30 years and the first in the 21st century and the cap era to record a 100-point season. The 32-year-old had 25 goals (20 at even strength) and 76 assists for a whopping 101 points.
There are only five other defencemen in NHL history to record 100 or more points in a single season. Bobby Orr did it six times and Paul Coffey five, while Denis Potvin, Al MacInnis and Brian Leetch each hit the milestone once in their Hall of Fame careers.
Karlson also led all players with 21:51 of even-strength ice-time per game and was fourth in even-strength points behind only Nathan MacKinnon, David Pasternak and the soon-to-be three-time Hart winner Connor McDavid.
San Jose had the fourth-worst record in the NHL, so despite his terrific season, Karlsson’s accomplishments didn’t help his team stay in the playoff race. Did voters hold that against Karlsson, whose top defence partner this past season in terms of minutes played with was Jaycob Megna who was traded to Seattle in early February?
Karlsson is already one of only 13 defencemen in NHL history to win multiple Norris Trophies and he could become the ninth to win the award at least three times. The Swede previously won it in 2012 and 2015, and was runner-up in 2016 and 2017.
The 2021 Norris winner had another great year with the New York Rangers. In addition to being one of the top-scoring defenders, he tied for the lead among defencemen in takeaways, using his vision and skating prowess at both ends of the ice to help his team. The only defenceman to record more than 70 points in each of the past two seasons, Fox had his best season in terms of overall possession metrics yet wasn’t quite able to match the career-high 74 he posted in 2021-22, but he still was among eight defencemen to record at least 72 points this season.
Will Josh Morrissey perhaps one day become known as Josh Norrissey? The Winnipeg Jets defenceman is coming off a hugely impressive season. Morrissey was a first-round draft pick and had been a quality defender during his first six NHL seasons but enjoyed a production boom in 2022-23. The 28-year-old finished the year tied for second in points by a defenceman with 76 (16 goals, 60 assists), more than doubling his previous career high and shattering the Jets/Thrashers franchise record previously held by Dustin Byfuglien.
Had the reigning Norris winner not missed a quarter of the season due to injuries perhaps he’d be the odds-on favourite over Karlsson. The Colorado Avalanche star and last year’s Conn Smythe winner had 66 points in the 60 games he suited up for and could’ve had a few more were it not for his six hit posts and two hit crossbars. He was the only other defenceman besides Karlsson to average more than a point per game and led all players in ice time. It’s the fact he didn’t play a full season that has him at a disadvantage.
The No. 1 pick from 2018 had a breakout campaign with the Buffalo Sabres in 2022-23 by setting career highs in nearly all major stat categories, ranking third in the NHL in averaging 25:48 of ice-time per game. Dahlin’s 58 assists are the second-most for a defenceman in Sabres history and he joined Hall of Famer and his first NHL coach Phil Housley as the only other Buffalo blueliner to record more than 70 points in a season. Dahlin had a negative plus/minus rating in each of his first four seasons but finished the year plus-12. He apparently didn’t put as much pressure on himself like he had in years past and it clearly made a difference.
“It’s been a real progression for him, a continual progression,” Sabres coach Don Granato told Adam Vignan of Dahlin’s improvement. “He was just putting too much pressure on himself. It’s OK to put healthy pressure on yourself. He was excessive. He took things too hard. There’s lots of expectations on any player, especially players drafted No. 1 overall. When you try to live up to that, you can lose yourself a little bit and lose being in the moment. He’s done a great job to just stay in the moment and do what he can do and accept that, ‘Hey, you can’t do everything.’ That’s allowed him to have a lot more control. He was probably giving up too much control trying to be too perfect.”
The 6-foot-6 right-shot blueliner received Norris votes in his final two seasons with the Flames and all three seasons he spent with the Hurricanes. His debut season with the Devils in 2021-22 didn’t wasn’t his best and he was left off the ballots. Hamilton course corrected this past season and scored a career-high 22 goals, which tied a Devils franchise record for a defenceman, and his 74 points ranks second in Devils history behind Scott Stevens’ 78-point season in 1993-94. Hamilton led all defencemen with 275 shots on goal and seven game-winning goals.
At just 23, Heiskanen continues to play well beyond his years in his fifth season. One of only eight skaters in the league to average more than 25 minutes a night and four of those players have previously won the Norris (Karlsson, Makar, Drew Doughty, Roman Josi). His 65.3 per cent offensive zone start percentage (his previous oZS% high was 54.7 per cent) certainly helped contribute to a career-high 62 assists, 73 points and 206 shots on goal.
The seven names above would be your consensus leading contenders but some honourable mentions also likely to find themselves on Norris ballots include: Quinn Hughes, Brandon Montour, Jaccob Slavin, Brent Burns and Vince Dunn
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