Although there are still about 20 games left to play, the Norris Trophy race is all over. Brent Burns is clearly the best defenseman this year and it’s not near. He is even gaining some recognition at the Hart Trophy dialog and when the Sharks star was to win it, he would become the first blue-liner to assert the NHL’s MVP trophy since Chris Pronger did it 17 years ago.
BetOnline has pegged him as the huge -1500 favored, meaning it is highly unlikely anyone knocks him off the pedestal where he resides and the fat woman, also called Gary Bettman, can begin warming up her vocal cords.
So what is Burns doing to earn these high praise and major award thought? Well, for starters, he has 27 goals to go together with his 39 aids, is a +23 and is averaging almost 25 minutes of ice time per game. His offensive numbers rival those of the best forward in the league and that he does it without abandoning his post at the defensive end. He’s more power-play points than NHL points leader Connor McDavid and is also tied for first with Drew Doughty and Ryan Suter with 4.57 defensive point stocks apiece.
Doughty won the award in 2015-16 based largely on his impressive defensive point shares number so if Burns proceeds to take care of his responsibilities in front of Martin Jones, there is no reason to deny him that the Norris honors.
If Burns doesn’t win the Norris this season, there is something basically wrong with the way we decide who wins awards. He is beard and shoulders above anybody else on the list and Erik Karlsson, who is second in the likelihood at +900, finished runner-up to Doughty in Norris voting last year and he had a much better year than he is having this year.
Another factor that should not be ignored is how amazing a guy Burns is. The dude is a shining beacon of amusement in a league that tends to lack character. Why the NHL is not encouraging the hell out of the guy is outside me.Archived Articles
Among the most controversial moves during the NHL offseason was that the trade that sent P.K. Subban into Nashville and Shea Weber north of the border to Montreal. Critics hounded Marc Bergevin along with the Canadiens’ front office for the move but with the Habs beginning their year 9-0-1 and Weber being a league-best +14, the criticism is beginning to quiet.
The chances have been upgraded for Norris Trophy futures and Weber has increased the board and today sits directly behind Erik Karlsson in +325. The Habs blue-line bomber not just leads all players in plus/minus, he also sits third in points for defensemen with 10 and has pounded in four goals — three of these on the power play.
P.K., on the other hand, is -7 through 10 games and is shooting at an awful 8.3 percent. His team sits dead in the Central Division with only three wins and continues to be struggling significantly to put the puck in the internet. I still think the Predators are a good team and Subban is — obviously — a good player. BetOnline is supplying a +1400 lineup for P.K. to acquire the Norris but I think you can prevent this one — Subban is too much of a risk/reward player to ever post the leading defensive amounts demanded of a Norris winner.
Weber’s plus/minus along with other defensive amounts will be boosted astronomically by playing facing Carey Price this year and when the Canadiens keep winning, the significant blue-liner is an absolute shoo-in to carry this award even when he fails to continue to maintain pace with Brent Burns and Karlsson in the points race.
Drew Doughty won the Norris last year despite submitting 31 fewer points than Karlsson, who received the second-most votes. He did, but rate the league in defensive stage stocks — a stat Weber currently leads the NHL in.
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