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NHL Awards Watch: Top 5 Norris Trophy candidates

By Dave Stevenson

SAN JOSE, CA - APRIL 18: Brent Burns #88 of the San Jose Sharks controling the puck, looks to skate past Drew Doughty #8 of the Los Angeles Kings in the second period in Game Three of the Western Conference First Round during the 2016 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at SAP Center on April 18, 2016 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
SAN JOSE, CA - APRIL 18: Brent Burns #88 of the San Jose Sharks controling the puck, looks to skate past Drew Doughty #8 of the Los Angeles Kings in the second period in Game Three of the Western Conference First Round during the 2016 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at SAP Center on April 18, 2016 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
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Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports /
4

Drew Doughty

Defenseman, Los Angeles Kings

The case for Doughty: If you like a traditional defenseman who can still produce at an impressive rate, Doughty’s your guy. Not only this, his Los Angeles Kings remain one of the best defensive teams in the NHL. As their top defenseman, Doughty stands out.

He remains one of the NHL’s most influential possession players, ranking 25th in relative CorsiFor percentage. Doughty also ranks seventh in goals for percentage and at 27:15 of ice time per game, only Dustin Byfuglien plays more per game than him.

His case will improve immensely if the Kings manage to make it to the playoffs despite Jonathan Quick being out for most of the season. They’ve survived with Peter Budaj in net and it’s hard not to credit Doughty for it. Before saying playoffs don’t matter, keep in mind voters didn’t vote for him in 2014-15 because his team didn’t make the postseason. Doughty lost to Erik Karlsson despite having more first-place votes.

The case against Doughty: He doesn’t produce much at even strength compared to other defensemen. Doughty ranks 70th out of 159 in points per game among defensemen with at least 500 minutes played. Sure, a job of a defenseman includes defending. But these days, it also involves producing and moving the puck. Doughty is inferior offensively to the more elite puck movers. That said, it didn’t stop him last year.

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