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The NHL’s Norris Trophy race as the league’s top defenseman is off to a highly competitive start to the season.
Colorado Avalanche superstar blueliner Cale Makar is the clear leader in the Norris battle, with 21 points in 12 games. He’s just the second blueliner in NHL history to finish October leading all players in points, per NHL Stats.
Cale Makar is locked in to patrol the Canadian blueline at the #4Nations Face-Off. The @Avalanche defenseman already has 21 points in 12 games this season. How many will he have come February? #NHLStats 🇨🇦
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— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) November 4, 2024
That said, there are at least a couple of D-men who also had outstanding months.
That group includes Winnipeg Jets No. 1 blueliner Josh Morrissey, who has 13 assists and 15 points in 12 games this year. He’s six points behind Makar at the moment but is still within reach of the Avs star.
The 29-year-old Morrissey is currently on pace to generate 88 assists and 102 points – numbers that would smash his career-best totals of 60 assists and 76 points, both of which were set in the 2022-23 campaign.
Morrissey did get some love from voters in last season’s Norris race, finishing seventh in voting. But he’s clearly in his prime and a central part of the Jets’ early-season success this year.
Morrissey is indeed regarded as an offense-minded defenseman who doesn’t have elite shutdown capabilities, but current Penguins D-man Erik Karlsson didn’t win his two Norrises because of his defense-first talents. Karlsson was a strong offensive player, and that was enough to sway voters in his favor.
Meanwhile, a former Norris winner – Tampa Bay Lightning star Victor Hedman – is also having a strong season. The 33-year-old Hedman is a six-time Norris finalist, and he won the trophy in 2018. Hedman finished sixth in Norris voting last season, and he’s currently on a point-per-game pace, with 10 assists and 12 points in 12 games.
That pace would be enough to break Hedman’s career high of 65 assists in 82 games in the 2021-22 season, but his career-best points total of 85 points that year wouldn’t quite be within reach unless he keeps it up and has a couple of first-star outings.
Hedman is a more well-rounded blueliner than Morrissey, and he’s been quite effective at limiting high-danger chances against. If he did win this year’s Norris, it would make it all the easier for him to be a Hockey Hall of Fame candidate, but let’s be honest – Hedman already has shown enough to be considered for the Hall.
The Norris has not been won by the same defenseman in back-to-back seasons since Detroit icon Nicklas Lidstrom won three in a row from 2006 to 2008 – he won an incredible seven Norrises by the time he retired. However, there have been players who won the Norris multiple times since that period – former Blackhawks star Duncan Keith, who won in 2010 and 2014, and Karlsson, who won in 2014-15 with Ottawa and in 2022-23 with San Jose.
We could see another multi-time Norris winner this year if Makar claims it or if Predators star Roman Josi or Vancouver Canucks star and most recent Norris winner Quinn Hughes takes home this season’s Norris.
Hughes, in particular, has nine points in 10 games, and he’s also very effective at limiting chances against in his own zone, so he could soon rise to the top of the Norris conversation again.
But Morrissey and Jets teammate Neal Pionk (10 assists, 13 points) and Vegas blueliner Alex Pietrangelo (11 assists, 12 points) also had a great start to the season. The field is wide open at the moment, and we could wind up seeing a first-time winner like Morrissey or a multi-time winner like Hedman.
Related: Better Than Bobby: No Defenseman Can Top Orr, But The Avs’ Cale Makar Just Might
Granted, Makar will be tough to defeat in the Norris this year. But it’s still early in the season, and the field for the best defenseman honor could come down to the wire if something changes. Morrissey and Hedman aren’t dark horses for the Norris, but rather, legitimate contenders to garner the most votes at the end of the year. We’ll be watching all year to see if they can unseat Makar and take home the glory of a Norris win by season’s end.
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News Summary:
- NHL Norris Trophy Watch: Who Comes Close To Cale Makar Right Now?
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