Erik Karlsson, Drew Doughty, and Brent Burns have been announced as the NHL’s 2016 Norris Trophy finalists.
Every season, the Norris Trophy is awarded to the defenseman who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position. It is a prestigious award and it’s quite an honor to win it. The NHL has released its trio of finalists from a season that featured no fewer than five strong candidates. Erik Karlsson of the Ottawa Senators, Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings, and will be attending the NHL Awards in Las Vegas where the winner will be announced.
Karlsson is the likely Norris Trophy favorite after having a historically great season for a defenseman. He led all defensemen with 82 points (tied for fourth among all players) and led the NHL with 66 assists. Karlsson also finished with 16 goals, tied for seventh among all defensemen. Despite his pedestrian plus-minus rating of -2, that’s more of a product of his team than anything else as the Senators were a significantly better team whenever he was on the ice.
Doughty is very close to Karlsson and could easily wind up winning the Norris Trophy. His relative possession numbers are outstanding considering how great of a possession team the Kings are. Doughty is one of the best in the NHL at suppressing shot attempts against and he spends a lot of time killing penalties. While his defense is outstanding, his offensive is a bit underwhelming. That could cost him as the Norris goes to the best overall defenseman, not just the best one at defense. He had 51 points but just 25 of them came at even strength.
Burns is a bit overlooked thanks to Karlsson, but he had a very impressive season. He had 75 points, second among all defensemen only to Karlsson’s 82. Burns led all defensemen in goals scored with 27. 43 of those points (19 goals and 24 assists) came at even strength as Burns had 32 power play points. He helped lead the Sharks back to the playoffs after a one year absence.
Cheers to Roman Josi and Shea Weber of the Nashville Predators as well as Kris Letang of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Any other season, they would have been worthy finalists. It took two extremely special performances to keep them from being named finalists.
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