Whether you like his style of play as a defenseman or not, whether or not you agree with the current criteria that seems to sway the voters, Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson is poised to join very elite company tonight.

A win over Brent Burns and Drew Doughty in Las Vegas at the NHL Awards tonight would vault Karlsson to join names such as Orr, Harvey, Lidstrom, Bourque, Chelios, Coffey, Pilote and Potvin, all among the best defensemen to play in their respective eras.

While Karlsson has a long way to go to get close to Orr (8), Harvey & Lidstrom (7) and Bourque (5), he is in pretty select company in the rate at which he has compiled the honors.

Assuming he wins tonight, and I think it would be a tremendous upset if he didn't, he will have his 3 Norris' at the age of 25.

Here are the other 3 time winners, and the age that they won their 3rd:

Orr - 21 - Greatest ever and a freak of nature; changed the position and the way the game is played, if there was no Orr, there would be no Karlsson as he is.

Harvey - 32 - The first dominant defenseman in the Norris Era....he was 29 when the award was first handed out, and he won 7 of the first 9 Norris'

Lidstrom - 32 - The greatest of the dead puck era defensemen was 30 when he won his first, and won 7 of the next 10 before handing the baton to Karlsson

Bourque - 29 - Coffey, Bourque and Chelios might be the top 3 in any era to play in their prime at the same time

Chelios - 34

Coffey - 33

Pilote - 33 - Bridged the gap between Harvey and Orr

Potvin - 25 - Best after Orr, carried the torch to Coffey, Bourque and Chelios.

So only Orr and Potvin have done what Karlsson is poised to do tonight, win a 3rd Norris by age 25.

And to think what might have been if not for the skate of Matt Cooke. Karlsson finished 18th in Norris voting in the lockout shortened 2013 season despite playing just 17 of 48 games (14 points). He looked to be well on his way to his second Norris that season before skategate hit and he missed the remainder of the regular season with the Achilles' injury. So this could easily be the 4th, not for "if's and but's".


Again, like it or hate it, that is the way it is, and points are sexy. Karlsson should win Norris #3 tonight and he will be full marks for it, and will join the truly elite of defensemen in the history of the game.

And of course, critics will say he is one-dimensional and he hasn't won anything in the NHL, team-wise. At one point that was certainly the case, but those days are long gone. For those who don't want to be convince, that will always be the fallback. And yes, he is missing that elusive championship, but, after all, he has tons of time in his career. Even the great Ray Bourque had to wait until he was 40, and transplant from the Bruins to the Avs, to finally get his ring. At 25, it is too early to level that caveat on Karlsson's dominance. It may happen, it may not, and he might eventually have to leave this organization to do it, but he still has a long road ahead of him, and Stanley Cups are more of a testament to a team built properly than any individual can really do, except in very rare cases.

It is kind of scary, and in a good way, that Karlsson is just entering his prime.

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