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NHL Thoughts : New Name In Norris? |
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The Norris Trophy discussions before the season tended to really only hinge on one variable. Would Erik Karlsson play enough games after his recovery from off-season ankle replacement (I suspect with some type of adamantium alloy) surgery? The obvious conclusion being which of Hedman or Burns would take it if that was the case. A few games into this season and we’re seeing a very odd Norris race and quite frankly I welcome the interesting competition. It gets a bit boring when it’s the same old players constantly battling for the same Trophy. It’s why the Vezina has always been my favourite award because any quality goaltender can go on a 30 game run that makes their numbers too gaudy to ignore. It’s how we have so much diversity in who has won that award. Remember when Ryan Miller won it? Ya, that happened. It’s too early to tell, but I’d like to put forward a few guys who have started the year off so well that they could be in the running by the end of the year.
Jacob Slavin – Who? The least flashy of the Hurricanes exciting young top-4; Slavin has taken his game to the next level early in this season. It’s only 5 games, but it looks like he is building on his breakthrough season last year. I only got to see the game against the Oilers where he was a dominant force at both ends of the ice, so I might be a bit skewed here, but he was so impressive. He’s the league leader in Even Strength Ice Time and the reason is simple. He’s one of the most effective two-way defensemen in the game. He doesn’t even get to play the Power Play and he’s still close to the top in the league in minutes played. He starts almost exclusively in the defensive zone and is the most trusted player on his team. Of top tier defenders only Colton Parayko has started more in the defensive zone than Slavin. At the end of the day; Slavin doesn’t play enough on the Power Play to really contend for the Norris which is usually the Art Ross of defensemen. However I think if he can continue how he is playing this season all year, he would deserve to be in the running.
Alex Pietrangelo – With the loss of Shattenkirk, Pietrangelo is getting a lot of offensive opportunities. The bulk to be honest. The Blues are a team with quite a lot of firepower on the top-end with Tarasenko, Schwartz, Schenn, Stastny et all. Those factors have combined to have him start with a rollicking 2 goals and 10 points in 8 games. 3 on the Power play. He’s averaging 5 freaking minutes of PP time. It’s unsustainable, but shows the level of usage we can expect for him this season. Pietrangelo is also a player with “the reputation.” He made Team Canada, he has that prestige. Like Drew Doughty people WANT to vote for him. He’s that all-way superstar defenseman! At least in our minds, if not always on paper or in advanced stats. I’m coming at a potential candidacy by Pietrangelo from a few very basic premises. His team is going to be good, so he’ll make the playoffs which is always a must. He’s going to have a high scoring season being the primary focus of the offense this year. He has the reputation and minutes played necessary. Not really my personal choice, but a guy I think the voters would glom onto.
Drew Doughty – In my previous NHL Thoughts I mentioned that Doughty is back! So he is and so seemingly are the Kings. You know what that means. Doughty is the best defenseman in the world talks begin again! He has 2 goals and 5 points in 6 games playing 25+ minutes a night. Like I mentioned above with Pietrangelo, Doughty might be the most reputation based player this side of Toews. If he keeps around the 55-60 point pace and the Kings make the playoffs…it’s his. Karlsson could score 70 and it wouldn’t go to him in the vote. We all know it.
PK Subban – Speaking of previous winners* having strong starts. Subban has taken advantage of the number one spotlight as the Preds dealt (and continue to do so) with the injuries to Roman Josi and Ryan Ellis. He has a goal and 7 points and is playing almost 27 minutes a night. Obviously that number will go down as the year progresses. Josi will start to eat some time and when Ellis gets back they will probably continue their 24-20 minutes for all top-4 and a 10-14 bottom pairing. PK is the apple of the media’s eye. He’s charismatic, funny and charming. Those he rubs the wrong way and the type of people journalists (who vote on these awards) dislike. They’re primarily television personalities that believe in players being automatons. If Subban can continue his strong play, he will put up points. His brand of reckless hockey is extremely fun to watch and brings a level of excitement to the game few can. When he won he destroyed the league on the Power Play. He had 7 (of 11) goals and 26 (of 38) points with the man advantage. That was third overall in the league. With a PP featuring Josi, Arvidsson, Johansen and Forsberg, you have to imagine he will do well again in that regard. Especially with more PP’s being called per game. He’s in the top-10 already in PPP’s.
At the end of the day, my money is still on Victor Hedman to win it this year, but I think there are quite a few competitors this year. My only worry with regards to Hedman is that with Stamkos back will he put as much offense up? He and Kucherov basically willed the Lightning to nearing the playoffs down the stretch and I’m not sure we’ll see quite that level of scoring from him again. As we all know, scoring and/or reputation is all that matters in this discussion.
Thanks for reading and have a lovely weekend. I will be shooting at Americans all weekend with my musket defending the colony from those Yankee scum!
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