2022-23 Norris Trophy [Article]

[-AJ-]

Hey all! I decided to share my most recent article on who I have as my best Norris candidates this year, especially because a familiar face shows up on the list 

 

If you wanna do me a solid and increase my page visits feel free to read it here (it also looks prettier): https://hookedonhockeyhistory.wordpress.com/2023/04/23/2022-23-final-norris-rankings/

 

For the rest of you, I've pasted the article below:

 

2022-23 Final Norris Rankings

APRIL 23, 2023 / ANDREW SCHROEDER

 

With the 2022-23 NHL season finally to a close, it’s time to assess who final players are that make my top 10 list for Norris candidates. We’ve had some interesting storylines this year from players starting injured and still working their way on to my final top 10, to elite offensive performances, to underrated all-around defensemen–all of these appear on my final list.

A few house-keeping things first: these are not my predictions as to who wins the Norris, but rather, my own personal list for the best Norris candidates. I find that Norris voters often have different criteria than I do, so a prediction would result in a different ranking. Players needed a minimum of 20 minutes on ice per game as well as 61 games to be considered. Additionally, it’s also worth noting that I somewhat penalized players who very rarely played on the penalty kill, as it was seen as an indictment of their defensive play–a core aspect of a defenseman’s role. In total, I looked at 54 different eligible defensemen.

Finally, I’ll compare players to how they ranked in my rankings the halfway mark of the season to see their progression since that time.

 

Honourable Mention: Erik Karlsson (0)

I know I’ll get some flak for this, but I truly believe that Karlsson was the textbook example of a Paul Coffey-like rover this year. The best offensive defenseman, but at the cost of his defensive play. 101 points is worth a lot, but you should need more than outstanding offense to win a Norris or even be a serious contender.

 

Honourable Mention: Victor Hedman (-5)

Hedman wasn’t even on my list at all at the 1/4 mark, but found himself on the list at the halfway mark. He has since fallen a bit back off, partly due to worse penalty kill results. Although he’s still an elite defenseman, this year was an off one by his standards.

 

10. Roman Josi (-4)

Josi ranked 6th all throughout the year on my Norris rankings, but found himself in 10th at the final rankings partly due to mild decreases in some of his stats, but moreso due to other players passing him. Josi plays a very heavy workload while producing a ton of points and also doesn’t shy away from blocking shots, which he is excellent at, ranking 8th on my list.

 

9. Charlie McAvoy (NR)

(AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

McAvoy was technically on my 3/4 season list, but I never wrote about it, so he hasn’t show up yet in an article of mine. After an early-season injury McAvoy joined the surging Bruins and didn’t mess with the chemistry at all. His 52 points in 67 games pro-rates to 64 points in a full season. McAvoy continues to boast an excellent two-way game with excellent penalty kill numbers, shot blocking totals, and puck possession metrics. A betting man would very likely say that he’s a Norris finalist at least once in his career.

 

8. Devon Toews (+4)

Like his team, Toews has risen up the standings here in my Norris rankings at the end of the year, finally making the actual top 10 for the first time at the very end. Toews finished 8th in Norris voting last year and although he undoubtedly benefits from playing with the phenom Cale Makar, Toews is an incredible defenseman in his own right and deserves to be in the conversation. Toews is a reliable source of offense, but also excels in the defensive side of the game, which helped lead to his incredible +39 rating. He has great possession numbers and plays in over 60% of Colorado’s penalty kill time.

 

7. Quinn Hughes (NR)

Perhaps no defenseman has risen up the Norris rankings more than Hughes has in the second half of the season. From not even being seriously considered at the halfway mark to all the way up to 7th place by the end is a remarkable surge. Hughes is certainly one of the best offensive defensemen in the NHL and possibly the best passer (although some could argue Karlsson over him). Although his defensive game isn’t elite, he has taken big strides this year in improving his all-around game and should now be much more seriously in the Norris conversation, as he became a reliable defenseman for the Canucks on the rapidly improving penalty kill at the end of the season. Hughes hasn’t yet finished top 10 in Norris voting, but look for it to happen this year.

 

6. Rasmus Dahlin (-4)

(Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)

Although Dahlin’s final ranking on my list is still very admirable, because of his recent trend, it ends up feeling a bit disappointing. Dahlin ranked either 2nd or 3rd in all three of my first three quarterly rankings so to fall to 6th at the end is a disappointment. His offense fell off considerably, as he was well above a point-per-game at one point in the season. Still, he finished with a very impressive 73 points in 78 games and also has fairly strong defensive numbers as well like 45 takeaways and a +12 rating.

 

5. Mikhael Sergachev (-1)

Sergachev is another in a list of many underrated defensemen. Although many know Hedman as the legendary defenseman in Tampa, it was Sergachev this year that stepped up the most. With a breakout season of 64 points in 79 games along with outstanding defensive metrics in every category, Sergachev is of the rare breed of defenseman with virtually no weakness. With an impressive 55 takeaways playing about 24 minutes a game, Sergachev actually spends more time on ice than Hedman does and also plays a bigger role in the penalty kill, being on ice for 44% of the time.

 

4. Miro Heiskanen (+5)

Probably the biggest contender to Hughes’ title as the biggest riser in the 2nd half of the season, Heiskanen’s stock rose meteorically after a slow start. Finishing with by far a career high of 73 points in 79 games, Heiskanen, like Hughes has now entered into the serious Norris conversation, though at an even higher level, due to his more well-rounded game. Heiskanen plays very heavy minutes while showing incredible puck possession numbers at 56.92% scoring chances for. In addition, he has a very impressive 53 takeaways and a +12 rating while also showing extremely strong penalty killing results on the 2nd unit of the Stars.

 

3. Alex Pietrangelo (-2)

Arguably the most underrated defenseman in the league, Pietrangelo continues to do it all for Vegas and was a huge reason their team was successful this year. Pietrangelo perfectly fits the archetype of a Norris winner–he can score, he can defend, and he can hit, doing all with aplomb. Like all of the top five players on my list, Pietrangelo has virtually no weakness. He’s put up 54 points in 73 games, tying his career best despite missing nine games and also is one of the best defensive defensemen in the league while doing it. His shot blocks are amazingly reliable with 2.4 blocks per game and his 56 takeaways show that he can regain possession after it’s lost. He’s relied on extremely heavily by the Golden Knights on the penalty kill as well as regular even strength and the powerplay.

 

2. Adam Fox (+3)

Somewhat the beneficiary of a few of the top defenders falling off a little, Fox has suddenly found himself with a very real chance to win his second Norris trophy at the young age of 25. Ever since his Norris-winning 2020-21 season, I’ve been a defender of Fox as the perfect defenseman. Although Fox’s defense is ever so slightly inferior to Pietrangelo’s, his offensive game is a significant step above, shown by his second straight season above 70 points this year. Fox led all defensemen in takeaways with 88 and had an impressive +28 rating.

 

1. Cale Makar (0)

In 1992-93, Mario Lemiux was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma after just 40 games. Amazingly, he came back to play the final 20 games of the season and finished with such astonishing results (69 goals and 160 points in 60 games) that he still won the Hart trophy and Lester B. Pearson trophy.

 

Those of you who are astute will notice that Makar shouldn’t actually be on my list, as he only played 60 games and didn’t meet the 61 game minimum I had set. However, when I chose to enter in Makar’s data into my database, he finished in 1st by such a large margin I knew I would have to make an exception to allow him in.

I’m not saying Makar’s 2022-23 season is on the level of Lemieux’s 1992-93 season, but it is clear that his overall game is dominant enough that despite the missing games, he is the deserving Norris winner for the 2022-23 season. He was one of only two defensemen over a point-per game at 66 points in 60 games and unlike Karlsson, has an outstanding defensive game to pair with his scoring. Makar ranked in the top half in eight of the nine statistics I looked at, showing how insanely well-rounded his overall game is. Just last year I was one of Makar’s critics, claiming he wasn’t good enough defensively to win a Norris yet, but this year, I am 100% on board for the young kid to earn his second straight Norris.

 

Other notables: V. Dunn, R. Andersson, J. Morrissey, H. Lindholm

 

No longer on the list: J. Carlson, H. Lindholm

 

 

[Diamonds]

I voted 1) Makar 2) Fox 3) Dahlin

 

I know Karlsson will be a finalist and hitting 100 points is incredibly impressive, but I just can't get behind a defenseman that doesn't play defense winning the trophy for best defenseman. 

[hammertime]

Man Karlsson should get it. Minus be dammed that's a bad team over there.  He was the best regular season D this year. He just was. 

 

Would I trade for him and his contract? Hell no!

[Noble 6]

I agree that Karlsson's defense is terrible and I would even take it further by saying that she entire Shark's system was based around allowing Karlsson as much freedom and opportunity as possible, even at the expense of winning games. 

 

With that said, Karlsson's finished with more even strength points than McDavid. I say again, Karlsson, the defenseman for a bottom-5 team in the league scored more even strength points than the guy who had the single best scoring season the NHL has seen in generations. Karlsson was the league leader in even strength scoring for the significant amounts of time this year. He had 6 more even strength points than our 100 point elite franchise center. Quinn Hughes has smashed our franchise defenseman scoring stats year by year and Karlsson had 25 more points than him this year. This is truly earth-shattering production even with the sudden explosion in defenseman point totals this year. 

 

This year I think the options for the Norris are less obvious than last year when there was an obvious top-2. I think that if you are not going to give it to Karlsson this year then you might as well just give it to Josi since he deserved it last year. 

[Phil_314]

How is Morrissey not in the top-10??  All-Star, top-pair LHD, 2nd in defenseman scoring, plays on both PP and PK.  

[RUPERTKBD]

Voted Makar, Karlsson and Fox....but I agree with Phil....Morrissey belongs in the top 10...

[-AJ-]

1 hour ago, Phil_314 said:

How is Morrissey not in the top-10??  All-Star, top-pair LHD, 2nd in defenseman scoring, plays on both PP and PK.  

Morrissey actually doesn't play on the PK, he only played in 6.5% of Winnipeg's PK minutes, which is very low, especially for a defenseman of his calibre. That said, his metrics in the very few minutes he does play are excellent, so I feel like the Jets should give him a shot on the PK. None of the rest of his numbers are terribly bad, but he's below average in the group of 54 defensemen in giveaways (59), SCF% (51.34%), Blocked shots per game (1.5), and +/- (+2).

 

We could compare him to Hughes in the categories I looked at (since they had identical scoring).

 

You can see that Hughes beats or ties Morrissey in every categories except for blocked shots. Morrissey is an outstanding defenseman, but I think his defensive game, while strong, isn't strong enough to be a serious Norris contender. Again, he's elite and definitely a strong #1 defenseman, but the Norris goes above just being a good #1 and into the best of the best.

 

All that said, I expect that Morrissey will be in the top 10 and that I'm an outlier, just as I am with Karlsson putting him outside my top 10.

[Miss Korea Bob.Loblaw]

18 minutes ago, -AJ- said:

Morrissey actually doesn't play on the PK, he only played in 6.5% of Winnipeg's PK minutes, which is very low, especially for a defenseman of his calibre. That said, his metrics in the very few minutes he does play are excellent, so I feel like the Jets should give him a shot on the PK. None of the rest of his numbers are terribly bad, but he's below average in the group of 54 defensemen in giveaways (59), SCF% (51.34%), Blocked shots per game (1.5), and +/- (+2).

 

We could compare him to Hughes in the categories I looked at (since they had identical scoring).

 

You can see that Hughes beats or ties Morrissey in every categories except for blocked shots. Morrissey is an outstanding defenseman, but I think his defensive game, while strong, isn't strong enough to be a serious Norris contender. Again, he's elite and definitely a strong #1 defenseman, but the Norris goes above just being a good #1 and into the best of the best.

 

All that said, I expect that Morrissey will be in the top 10 and that I'm an outlier, just as I am with Karlsson putting him outside my top 10.

Hughes has a lot of good per-game metrics because his usage rate is unreasonably high.  I honestly have no idea why Tocchet thought it was smart to deploy him for over 25 minutes a game and sometimes over 30.  A defencemen who scores 50 points on a 20min TOI is significantly more productive than a Hughes who scores 60 points on 25min TOI.

 

It doesn't make sense to punish a bunch of offensive defencemen and reward Quinn Hughes, who has played well defensively under Tocchet but is still an attack-first type player.  You're also overstating Pietrangelo's case, since he's a very offensive D-man who sacrifices a lot defensively in 5v5 situtations.  Why are some offensive D-men great while others don't even sniff the nomination list?

 

I firmly believe Karlsson will win, Morrissey will get nominated, and Hamilton/Burns/Slavin/Lindholm will get top 10 votes as well.  That you have nobody from the Devils or Hurricanes on your list is bizarre.

[J.I.A.H.N]

Heiskanen is way and by far the most complete Dman in the NHL......

 

 

1. Heiskanen     2. Makar      3. Karlsson

[shiznak]

4 hours ago, -AJ- said:

Morrissey actually doesn't play on the PK, he only played in 6.5% of Winnipeg's PK minutes, which is very low, especially for a defenseman of his calibre. That said, his metrics in the very few minutes he does play are excellent, so I feel like the Jets should give him a shot on the PK. None of the rest of his numbers are terribly bad, but he's below average in the group of 54 defensemen in giveaways (59), SCF% (51.34%), Blocked shots per game (1.5), and +/- (+2).

 

We could compare him to Hughes in the categories I looked at (since they had identical scoring).

 

You can see that Hughes beats or ties Morrissey in every categories except for blocked shots. Morrissey is an outstanding defenseman, but I think his defensive game, while strong, isn't strong enough to be a serious Norris contender. Again, he's elite and definitely a strong #1 defenseman, but the Norris goes above just being a good #1 and into the best of the best.

 

All that said, I expect that Morrissey will be in the top 10 and that I'm an outlier, just as I am with Karlsson putting him outside my top 10.

I don’t know how you can leave Morrissey off the list, but still have Josi. Neither of them are used on the PK that often.

 

Personally, I have Lindholm as a finalist (or at least top 5) even though his offensive numbers isn’t on par with the other top defenders. He leads the entire league in +/-, deployed on the top PK unit, matchup against the top oppositions, and has a respectable 53 points. He should be at least ahead of Toews, Josi, McAvoy, and maybe Hughes.

Edited April 24, 2023 by shiznak

[wai_lai416]

lol.. how do u have a guy that missed more than 25% of the season 1st.. dont care how good he is if hes missing 25% of the season

 

Fox is much better all round than makar considering the colorado defence is pretty stack itself. also morrissey isn't even top 10?? 

 

the fact that you have Makar playing with another guy that's in your top 10 list basically should disqualify him for missing 25% of the season. this kid is made out of paper and easily the most injury proned defenceman out of the list by a mile.

Edited April 24, 2023 by wai_lai416

[HorvatToBaertschi]

12 hours ago, hammertime said:

Man Karlsson should get it. Minus be dammed that's a bad team over there.  He was the best regular season D this year. He just was. 

 

Would I trade for him and his contract? Hell no!

He was the best 4th forward in the nhl, but didn't spend a second playing defense. You give up a lot of defense to create as much offense as he did. 

[Moe Knows]

15 hours ago, -AJ- said:

Hey all! I decided to share my most recent article on who I have as my best Norris candidates this year, especially because a familiar face shows up on the list 

 

If you wanna do me a solid and increase my page visits feel free to read it here (it also looks prettier): https://hookedonhockeyhistory.wordpress.com/2023/04/23/2022-23-final-norris-rankings/

 

For the rest of you, I've pasted the article below:

 

2022-23 Final Norris Rankings

APRIL 23, 2023 / ANDREW SCHROEDER

 

With the 2022-23 NHL season finally to a close, it’s time to assess who final players are that make my top 10 list for Norris candidates. We’ve had some interesting storylines this year from players starting injured and still working their way on to my final top 10, to elite offensive performances, to underrated all-around defensemen–all of these appear on my final list.

A few house-keeping things first: these are not my predictions as to who wins the Norris, but rather, my own personal list for the best Norris candidates. I find that Norris voters often have different criteria than I do, so a prediction would result in a different ranking. Players needed a minimum of 20 minutes on ice per game as well as 61 games to be considered. Additionally, it’s also worth noting that I somewhat penalized players who very rarely played on the penalty kill, as it was seen as an indictment of their defensive play–a core aspect of a defenseman’s role. In total, I looked at 54 different eligible defensemen.

Finally, I’ll compare players to how they ranked in my rankings the halfway mark of the season to see their progression since that time.

 

Honourable Mention: Erik Karlsson (0)

I know I’ll get some flak for this, but I truly believe that Karlsson was the textbook example of a Paul Coffey-like rover this year. The best offensive defenseman, but at the cost of his defensive play. 101 points is worth a lot, but you should need more than outstanding offense to win a Norris or even be a serious contender.

 

Honourable Mention: Victor Hedman (-5)

Hedman wasn’t even on my list at all at the 1/4 mark, but found himself on the list at the halfway mark. He has since fallen a bit back off, partly due to worse penalty kill results. Although he’s still an elite defenseman, this year was an off one by his standards.

 

10. Roman Josi (-4)

Josi ranked 6th all throughout the year on my Norris rankings, but found himself in 10th at the final rankings partly due to mild decreases in some of his stats, but moreso due to other players passing him. Josi plays a very heavy workload while producing a ton of points and also doesn’t shy away from blocking shots, which he is excellent at, ranking 8th on my list.

 

9. Charlie McAvoy (NR)

(AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

McAvoy was technically on my 3/4 season list, but I never wrote about it, so he hasn’t show up yet in an article of mine. After an early-season injury McAvoy joined the surging Bruins and didn’t mess with the chemistry at all. His 52 points in 67 games pro-rates to 64 points in a full season. McAvoy continues to boast an excellent two-way game with excellent penalty kill numbers, shot blocking totals, and puck possession metrics. A betting man would very likely say that he’s a Norris finalist at least once in his career.

 

8. Devon Toews (+4)

Like his team, Toews has risen up the standings here in my Norris rankings at the end of the year, finally making the actual top 10 for the first time at the very end. Toews finished 8th in Norris voting last year and although he undoubtedly benefits from playing with the phenom Cale Makar, Toews is an incredible defenseman in his own right and deserves to be in the conversation. Toews is a reliable source of offense, but also excels in the defensive side of the game, which helped lead to his incredible +39 rating. He has great possession numbers and plays in over 60% of Colorado’s penalty kill time.

 

7. Quinn Hughes (NR)

Perhaps no defenseman has risen up the Norris rankings more than Hughes has in the second half of the season. From not even being seriously considered at the halfway mark to all the way up to 7th place by the end is a remarkable surge. Hughes is certainly one of the best offensive defensemen in the NHL and possibly the best passer (although some could argue Karlsson over him). Although his defensive game isn’t elite, he has taken big strides this year in improving his all-around game and should now be much more seriously in the Norris conversation, as he became a reliable defenseman for the Canucks on the rapidly improving penalty kill at the end of the season. Hughes hasn’t yet finished top 10 in Norris voting, but look for it to happen this year.

 

6. Rasmus Dahlin (-4)

(Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)

Although Dahlin’s final ranking on my list is still very admirable, because of his recent trend, it ends up feeling a bit disappointing. Dahlin ranked either 2nd or 3rd in all three of my first three quarterly rankings so to fall to 6th at the end is a disappointment. His offense fell off considerably, as he was well above a point-per-game at one point in the season. Still, he finished with a very impressive 73 points in 78 games and also has fairly strong defensive numbers as well like 45 takeaways and a +12 rating.

 

5. Mikhael Sergachev (-1)

Sergachev is another in a list of many underrated defensemen. Although many know Hedman as the legendary defenseman in Tampa, it was Sergachev this year that stepped up the most. With a breakout season of 64 points in 79 games along with outstanding defensive metrics in every category, Sergachev is of the rare breed of defenseman with virtually no weakness. With an impressive 55 takeaways playing about 24 minutes a game, Sergachev actually spends more time on ice than Hedman does and also plays a bigger role in the penalty kill, being on ice for 44% of the time.

 

4. Miro Heiskanen (+5)

Probably the biggest contender to Hughes’ title as the biggest riser in the 2nd half of the season, Heiskanen’s stock rose meteorically after a slow start. Finishing with by far a career high of 73 points in 79 games, Heiskanen, like Hughes has now entered into the serious Norris conversation, though at an even higher level, due to his more well-rounded game. Heiskanen plays very heavy minutes while showing incredible puck possession numbers at 56.92% scoring chances for. In addition, he has a very impressive 53 takeaways and a +12 rating while also showing extremely strong penalty killing results on the 2nd unit of the Stars.

 

3. Alex Pietrangelo (-2)

Arguably the most underrated defenseman in the league, Pietrangelo continues to do it all for Vegas and was a huge reason their team was successful this year. Pietrangelo perfectly fits the archetype of a Norris winner–he can score, he can defend, and he can hit, doing all with aplomb. Like all of the top five players on my list, Pietrangelo has virtually no weakness. He’s put up 54 points in 73 games, tying his career best despite missing nine games and also is one of the best defensive defensemen in the league while doing it. His shot blocks are amazingly reliable with 2.4 blocks per game and his 56 takeaways show that he can regain possession after it’s lost. He’s relied on extremely heavily by the Golden Knights on the penalty kill as well as regular even strength and the powerplay.

 

2. Adam Fox (+3)

Somewhat the beneficiary of a few of the top defenders falling off a little, Fox has suddenly found himself with a very real chance to win his second Norris trophy at the young age of 25. Ever since his Norris-winning 2020-21 season, I’ve been a defender of Fox as the perfect defenseman. Although Fox’s defense is ever so slightly inferior to Pietrangelo’s, his offensive game is a significant step above, shown by his second straight season above 70 points this year. Fox led all defensemen in takeaways with 88 and had an impressive +28 rating.

 

1. Cale Makar (0)

In 1992-93, Mario Lemiux was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma after just 40 games. Amazingly, he came back to play the final 20 games of the season and finished with such astonishing results (69 goals and 160 points in 60 games) that he still won the Hart trophy and Lester B. Pearson trophy.

 

Those of you who are astute will notice that Makar shouldn’t actually be on my list, as he only played 60 games and didn’t meet the 61 game minimum I had set. However, when I chose to enter in Makar’s data into my database, he finished in 1st by such a large margin I knew I would have to make an exception to allow him in.

I’m not saying Makar’s 2022-23 season is on the level of Lemieux’s 1992-93 season, but it is clear that his overall game is dominant enough that despite the missing games, he is the deserving Norris winner for the 2022-23 season. He was one of only two defensemen over a point-per game at 66 points in 60 games and unlike Karlsson, has an outstanding defensive game to pair with his scoring. Makar ranked in the top half in eight of the nine statistics I looked at, showing how insanely well-rounded his overall game is. Just last year I was one of Makar’s critics, claiming he wasn’t good enough defensively to win a Norris yet, but this year, I am 100% on board for the young kid to earn his second straight Norris.

 

Other notables: V. Dunn, R. Andersson, J. Morrissey, H. Lindholm

 

No longer on the list: J. Carlson, H. Lindholm

 

 

your rating system is hifgly suspect imo

[HKSR]

16 hours ago, -AJ- said:

Hey all! I decided to share my most recent article on who I have as my best Norris candidates this year, especially because a familiar face shows up on the list 

 

If you wanna do me a solid and increase my page visits feel free to read it here (it also looks prettier): https://hookedonhockeyhistory.wordpress.com/2023/04/23/2022-23-final-norris-rankings/

 

For the rest of you, I've pasted the article below:

 

2022-23 Final Norris Rankings

APRIL 23, 2023 / ANDREW SCHROEDER

 

With the 2022-23 NHL season finally to a close, it’s time to assess who final players are that make my top 10 list for Norris candidates. We’ve had some interesting storylines this year from players starting injured and still working their way on to my final top 10, to elite offensive performances, to underrated all-around defensemen–all of these appear on my final list.

A few house-keeping things first: these are not my predictions as to who wins the Norris, but rather, my own personal list for the best Norris candidates. I find that Norris voters often have different criteria than I do, so a prediction would result in a different ranking. Players needed a minimum of 20 minutes on ice per game as well as 61 games to be considered. Additionally, it’s also worth noting that I somewhat penalized players who very rarely played on the penalty kill, as it was seen as an indictment of their defensive play–a core aspect of a defenseman’s role. In total, I looked at 54 different eligible defensemen.

Finally, I’ll compare players to how they ranked in my rankings the halfway mark of the season to see their progression since that time.

 

Honourable Mention: Erik Karlsson (0)

I know I’ll get some flak for this, but I truly believe that Karlsson was the textbook example of a Paul Coffey-like rover this year. The best offensive defenseman, but at the cost of his defensive play. 101 points is worth a lot, but you should need more than outstanding offense to win a Norris or even be a serious contender.

 

Honourable Mention: Victor Hedman (-5)

Hedman wasn’t even on my list at all at the 1/4 mark, but found himself on the list at the halfway mark. He has since fallen a bit back off, partly due to worse penalty kill results. Although he’s still an elite defenseman, this year was an off one by his standards.

 

10. Roman Josi (-4)

Josi ranked 6th all throughout the year on my Norris rankings, but found himself in 10th at the final rankings partly due to mild decreases in some of his stats, but moreso due to other players passing him. Josi plays a very heavy workload while producing a ton of points and also doesn’t shy away from blocking shots, which he is excellent at, ranking 8th on my list.

 

9. Charlie McAvoy (NR)

(AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

McAvoy was technically on my 3/4 season list, but I never wrote about it, so he hasn’t show up yet in an article of mine. After an early-season injury McAvoy joined the surging Bruins and didn’t mess with the chemistry at all. His 52 points in 67 games pro-rates to 64 points in a full season. McAvoy continues to boast an excellent two-way game with excellent penalty kill numbers, shot blocking totals, and puck possession metrics. A betting man would very likely say that he’s a Norris finalist at least once in his career.

 

8. Devon Toews (+4)

Like his team, Toews has risen up the standings here in my Norris rankings at the end of the year, finally making the actual top 10 for the first time at the very end. Toews finished 8th in Norris voting last year and although he undoubtedly benefits from playing with the phenom Cale Makar, Toews is an incredible defenseman in his own right and deserves to be in the conversation. Toews is a reliable source of offense, but also excels in the defensive side of the game, which helped lead to his incredible +39 rating. He has great possession numbers and plays in over 60% of Colorado’s penalty kill time.

 

7. Quinn Hughes (NR)

Perhaps no defenseman has risen up the Norris rankings more than Hughes has in the second half of the season. From not even being seriously considered at the halfway mark to all the way up to 7th place by the end is a remarkable surge. Hughes is certainly one of the best offensive defensemen in the NHL and possibly the best passer (although some could argue Karlsson over him). Although his defensive game isn’t elite, he has taken big strides this year in improving his all-around game and should now be much more seriously in the Norris conversation, as he became a reliable defenseman for the Canucks on the rapidly improving penalty kill at the end of the season. Hughes hasn’t yet finished top 10 in Norris voting, but look for it to happen this year.

 

6. Rasmus Dahlin (-4)

(Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)

Although Dahlin’s final ranking on my list is still very admirable, because of his recent trend, it ends up feeling a bit disappointing. Dahlin ranked either 2nd or 3rd in all three of my first three quarterly rankings so to fall to 6th at the end is a disappointment. His offense fell off considerably, as he was well above a point-per-game at one point in the season. Still, he finished with a very impressive 73 points in 78 games and also has fairly strong defensive numbers as well like 45 takeaways and a +12 rating.

 

5. Mikhael Sergachev (-1)

Sergachev is another in a list of many underrated defensemen. Although many know Hedman as the legendary defenseman in Tampa, it was Sergachev this year that stepped up the most. With a breakout season of 64 points in 79 games along with outstanding defensive metrics in every category, Sergachev is of the rare breed of defenseman with virtually no weakness. With an impressive 55 takeaways playing about 24 minutes a game, Sergachev actually spends more time on ice than Hedman does and also plays a bigger role in the penalty kill, being on ice for 44% of the time.

 

4. Miro Heiskanen (+5)

Probably the biggest contender to Hughes’ title as the biggest riser in the 2nd half of the season, Heiskanen’s stock rose meteorically after a slow start. Finishing with by far a career high of 73 points in 79 games, Heiskanen, like Hughes has now entered into the serious Norris conversation, though at an even higher level, due to his more well-rounded game. Heiskanen plays very heavy minutes while showing incredible puck possession numbers at 56.92% scoring chances for. In addition, he has a very impressive 53 takeaways and a +12 rating while also showing extremely strong penalty killing results on the 2nd unit of the Stars.

 

3. Alex Pietrangelo (-2)

Arguably the most underrated defenseman in the league, Pietrangelo continues to do it all for Vegas and was a huge reason their team was successful this year. Pietrangelo perfectly fits the archetype of a Norris winner–he can score, he can defend, and he can hit, doing all with aplomb. Like all of the top five players on my list, Pietrangelo has virtually no weakness. He’s put up 54 points in 73 games, tying his career best despite missing nine games and also is one of the best defensive defensemen in the league while doing it. His shot blocks are amazingly reliable with 2.4 blocks per game and his 56 takeaways show that he can regain possession after it’s lost. He’s relied on extremely heavily by the Golden Knights on the penalty kill as well as regular even strength and the powerplay.

 

2. Adam Fox (+3)

Somewhat the beneficiary of a few of the top defenders falling off a little, Fox has suddenly found himself with a very real chance to win his second Norris trophy at the young age of 25. Ever since his Norris-winning 2020-21 season, I’ve been a defender of Fox as the perfect defenseman. Although Fox’s defense is ever so slightly inferior to Pietrangelo’s, his offensive game is a significant step above, shown by his second straight season above 70 points this year. Fox led all defensemen in takeaways with 88 and had an impressive +28 rating.

 

1. Cale Makar (0)

In 1992-93, Mario Lemiux was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma after just 40 games. Amazingly, he came back to play the final 20 games of the season and finished with such astonishing results (69 goals and 160 points in 60 games) that he still won the Hart trophy and Lester B. Pearson trophy.

 

Those of you who are astute will notice that Makar shouldn’t actually be on my list, as he only played 60 games and didn’t meet the 61 game minimum I had set. However, when I chose to enter in Makar’s data into my database, he finished in 1st by such a large margin I knew I would have to make an exception to allow him in.

I’m not saying Makar’s 2022-23 season is on the level of Lemieux’s 1992-93 season, but it is clear that his overall game is dominant enough that despite the missing games, he is the deserving Norris winner for the 2022-23 season. He was one of only two defensemen over a point-per game at 66 points in 60 games and unlike Karlsson, has an outstanding defensive game to pair with his scoring. Makar ranked in the top half in eight of the nine statistics I looked at, showing how insanely well-rounded his overall game is. Just last year I was one of Makar’s critics, claiming he wasn’t good enough defensively to win a Norris yet, but this year, I am 100% on board for the young kid to earn his second straight Norris.

 

Other notables: V. Dunn, R. Andersson, J. Morrissey, H. Lindholm

 

No longer on the list: J. Carlson, H. Lindholm

 

 

Do you have the actual stats and ratings that you could share?  Would be quite interested to see the data behind the rankings.

[Miss Korea Bob.Loblaw]

32 minutes ago, HKSR said:

Do you have the actual stats and ratings that you could share?  Would be quite interested to see the data behind the rankings.

Points, takeaways, and plus/minus.  That's it.  Our OP is living in 2008 or something.

[King Heffy]

Makar, Fox, Heiskanen.  I don't care how many points a defenceman puts up if he can't play defence.

 

 

[JamesB]

4 hours ago, Bob.Loblaw said:

Points, takeaways, and plus/minus.  That's it.  Our OP is living in 2008 or something.

I agree that it would make sense to look at some of the advanced stat aggregates out there. After checking out a few, I would say that no definitive conclusion is possible, but  here are the names that tend to be near the top:

 

Karlsson

Fox

Makar

Hughes

Dunn

Dahlin

[DownUndaCanuck]

Imagine how good Karlsson would look on that Avs team with Toews as his partner. Instead he's got who...Benning?

 

Still, he does suck defensively but it's a combination of his average defensive play and the dreadful team he's on so hard to judge. Meanwhile Makar looks brilliant but he's on a stacked team with a partner who he himself is in the top-10 in Norris rankings so hard to separate their play.

 

For the same reason I think Hughes deserves extra credit - playing on a dead-ass team with Bruce's awful defensive system for most of the year and his partner was TWO former 7-8th defencemen on other teams (Schenn and Bear). Also, Morrisey does deserve some credit, doesn't have the best defensive team or partner in the world but has been lights-out all year long despite really long bad stretches for the team (albeit with good goaltending to bail him out).

 

You really have to put the stats aside for some of these trophies, and top defenceman is hard because there's lots of things which can interfere with how good a defenceman is (for example, how many times their goalie bails them out, how good their partner is at mopping up their defensive errors, how good the forwards are at converting those 2nd passes into assists).

 

For me Hughes is top-3 considering all that stuff. He's had atrocious goaltending all year, absolute dead-beat partners compared to the other guys on the list and a terrible defensive system and still has some decent stats, but does have good forwards who convert those passes into goals.

Karlsson has arguably the worst team and partner and goaltender, pretty dreadful forwards but still has so many goals and points, but his defensive play is bad and it's not protected the way others are. All things considered he does deserve to go top-5 but it's hard to give him the trophy if he's not solid defensively.

 

Makar and Fox are certainly up there but again, how would they fare on a Canucks or Sharks team? I doubt their stats look anywhere as good as they do right now, are they even PPG? 

 

Heiskanen is a really solid prime-Hedman-like defenceman who deserves some credit he doesn't seem to get. However, his +/- isn't great for the team he's on and that seems to mean a lot for some reason with this trophy. Watching him though, he's solid all over the ice. 

 

No one's mentioning Hamilton who exploded on goals, has a solid +/- and really carried a very solid NJD defence.

 

Karlsson and Fox are right up there in takeaways/60 mins so I think they'll be voted really highly because of that plus their offence.

 

I think it'll be Fox > Makar > Karlsson

 

Sadly though I think Hughes deserves to go top-3. Put Fox or Makar on this Canucks team and their stats would just get shredded.

[IBatch]

Lost me right away when Coffey was compared to EK.    Guy was nothing like EK.   Had 12 career fights in the post season lol...had 9 short handed goals one year.    Rover isn't the best way to describe him,  best way to describe him would be he was special/unique, almost equal to  Orr his first decade... was the only man back in a 2-1 during the 1987 Canada Cup, broke that play up, started the sequence that one of the most famous goals ever was scored (Gretzky to Mario), he wasn't as good as Borque in his own zone, but was special enough to get back and for sure played a hard nosed style as well.   Housley maybe but not Coffey, he's part of a small group of guys not far below Gretzky, Mario and Orr all-time, and ahead of the next tier.   

 

 EK ... well maybe look at his team.   Edler led the league in minus one year ... when we sucked.   Mier was traded, which to me meant his odds of getting 100 went down ... that was an awful team.    Also compared to his forwards, the best ones, he managed to keep the puck out more than they helped for sure.    Give him Toews instead.   Watched EK a ton while in OTT, and "rover" is not his game.   At his best, he controls the pace of the game in three zones.   EK for sure is a better passer than QHs... that's just silly, doubt QHs will come close to accomplishing what EK has in as many games by the end of both their careers.   Didn't feast on the PP either, pretty hard to do that given his linemates, arguably the worst team in the league without EK.

 

Hope he's traded next season and does it again.   To me Makar, and the rest, just got schooled as far as what greatness really looks like.   Ottawa's teams were at best average, and EK joined Potvin, Orr and Coffey as the only other D in NHL history to be top 11 in history 3 times, and that was before he was stomped by Cooke.   Horrible injury, and it took time to re-coup.    Now he's done it 4 times.    Already was robbed of one Norris.   Sure hope they do more then look at his plus minus, and consider his quality of competition, the line match ups, and that he basically carried the team on his back all season even if they sucked.     Makar might have played 40 games, and wouldn't have close to the same numbers as EK with the same guys, if he could only handle 60 this year, doubt he'd play more then 40 with every guy keying on their best player all season the way EK was keyed in on. 

 

Heiskanen is his main competition IMO, then Fox.    QHs, well there is a reason he's near the top in scoring, but near 10 in fantasy hockey, doesn't block shots, can't throw a decent hit etc.     And wouldn't really consider him a rover either, you rarely see him pinch and around the net, doesn't really have the speed to get back, or maybe doesn't want to get caught pinching.    Doesn't need too either, his team has enough weapons where he doesn't have to try and tie the game.     

 

As an aside.  EKs gets a bad rep for being an offensive defensemen first.   That's simply not the case,  although it's easy to get caught up in that dialogue.   When you go back and look at what he was doing in Ottawa,  he was unreal.    He almost took a rag tag crew to the final, and gave PIT their hardest challenge when they won their first back to back cups.   The best job i've seen a defenseman do in the playoffs since Pronger. 

Edited April 25, 2023 by IBatch

[Alflives]

1 minute ago, IBatch said:

Lost me right away when Coffey was compared to EK.    Guy was nothing like EK.   Had 12 career fights in the post season lol...had 9 short handed goals one year.    Rover isn't the best way to describe him,  best way to describe him would be he was special/unique, not far off from Orr his first decade... was the only man back in a 2-1 during the 1987 Canada Cup, broke that play up, started the sequence that one of the most famous goals ever was scored (Gretzky to Mario), he wasn't as good as Borque in his own zone, but was special enough to get back and for sure played a hard nosed style as well.  

 

 EK ... well maybe look at his team.   Edler led the league in minus one year ... when we sucked.   Mier was traded, which to me meant his odds of getting 100 went down ... that was an awful team.    Also compared to his forwards, the best ones, he managed to keep the puck out more than they helped for sure.    Give him Toews instead.   Watched EK a ton while in OTT, and "rover" is not his game.   At his best, he controls the pace of the game in three zones.   EK for sure is a better passer than QHs... that's just silly, doubt QHs will come close to accomplishing what EK has in as many games by the end of both their careers.   Didn't feast on the PP either, pretty hard to do that given his linemates, arguably the worst team in the league without EK.

 

Hope he's traded next season and does it again.   To me Makar, and the rest, just got schooled as far as what greatness really looks like.   Ottawa's teams were at best average, and EK joined Potvin, Orr and Coffey as the only other D in NHL history to be top 11 in history 3 times, and that was before he was stomped by Cooke.   Horrible injury, and it took time to re-coup.    Now he's done it 4 times.    Already was robbed of one Norris.   Sure hope they do more then look at his plus minus, and consider his quality of competition, the line match ups, and that he basically carried the team on his back all season even if they sucked.     Makar might have played 40 games, and wouldn't have close to the same numbers as EK with the same guys. 

 

Heiskanen is his main competition IMO, then Fox.    QHs, well there is a reason he's near the top in scoring, but near 10 in fantasy hockey, doesn't block shots, can't throw a decent hit etc.     And wouldn't really consider him a rover either, you rarely see him pinch and around the net, doesn't really have the speed to get back.  

Hughes is the better puck distributor of all those top D men. That's what he does best. Our Huggable One drives play with his passing. He's not a puck carrier first like EK, Makar and others. Hughes is a lot more like a traditional, old time D man. None of these D are anywhere close to Orr, Coffey, or Harvey.