Yes. Absolute lock. Probably be close to unanimous.
kpedey
It really goes against the pattern of « the Norris usually goes to a D man who made playoffs » but 101 points is a historic achievement that’s impossible to ignore.
Rowdy_Roddy96
EK65 absolute lock 🔐
Call_of_Daddy
EK65 will not win the nomination…. for the Lindsey
CitizenNaab
Should be Karlsson
mitch-dubz
A lock. And who cares a about actual defense when your team is garbage? Congrats but also meh
SLRMaxime
If he doesn’t this league is even more fucked than I thought
SuperBeaver3000
The worst defense man of the 3 will win because he has points
amach9
He better be!!!
petdetective59
If it were for best offensive defenceman then maybe, he gets cratered in his own end tho. Dude is legit just a 4th forward that plays defence
IWMSvendor
Yeah it’s a lock for me. 101 points is absolutely historic. Especially with that Sharks roster.
ubcthrowaway-01
I know Cale had solid production and as did fox and that there’s only 3 nominee spots, but Morrissey and Hamilton deserved votes, as did Hughes and Montour
EvetsYenoham
I mean if they consider scoring points as the prerequisite for being the leagues best defenseman, then yeah. But there are other metrics that really show what the best defenseman is…if he has those too then yeah it’s a lock.
Hattrick_Swayze2
I hope so. EK65’s comeback was my favourite storyline of the season.
kesslerwiz
It’s gotta be EK65, right?
Even us Sharks fans know he isn’t the best « defense »man, but as another poster properly stated, it’s about winning games and getting points and if your defenseman is a huge driver in racking up said points, then he deserves it.
That said, given the absolutely braindead tomfoolery that plagues the NHL right now, I wouldn’t be surprised if it somehow *doesn’t* go to Karlsson.
Like Bedard to Chicago, not surprised. Just extremely disappointed in the league as per usual.
EK65 needs to win the Norris.
Noahtuesday123
Yup, this year. Although he’s probably one of the top five players in NHL, Maker shouldn’t even be there.
RS_Mike1
Simply put, yeah.
Difficult-Network704
He will be a lock. It’s hard to argue against 101 points. Especially on a team as bad as the Sharks were. I am going to say, though, that Karlsson is not very strong defensively. I’d like to see a Bobby Orr Award for the defenseman who is best at the offensive aspect of the game, and the Norris is for the best all around.
savageclap
Didn’t josi just have 5 less points and he didn’t win it
MoonManMooningMan
Are we sure EK even played D last year?
Puzzleheaded-Code475
similar to how the selke trophy is awarded to the best defensive forward, there needs to be a trophy for the best offensive defence man. this way the norris can be focused on actual defence instead of point numbers.
missiongoalie35
Norris shouldn’t be just about points.
rben80
How is he at defending though?
theTallBoy
I hope not.
101pts, sure….-26 also.
If he was 60pts and +26 on a terrible team, then sure. It would show that he was keeping an ahl roster defensively sound.
Scoring a ton of points just shows he was given a lot more space to put up points. He was amazing defensively years ago, but he’s a 4th forward now.
TheSwecar
He should be. And also a favourite for the Hart. That definitely shouldn’t go to McDavid. Oilers had 4 players with 100+ points this season. McDavid isn’t as important to the Oilers as Karlsson is for the Sharks when it comes to offensive production.
harlequin018
Call me old fashioned, but it seems odd to give the Norris to a defenseman who doesn’t play defense.
TheIncredibleHork
Even if you make the argument that the Norris should go to the best *defense*man (which I do), you can’t ignore Karlsson’s season. It’s his this year.
body_surfer_66
-26 is disgraceful for a Norris trophy winner but, I agree, he’s very likely to win.
heeroyuygw00
I will get down voted but no. Points are great but this isn’t about scoring points, it’s about being thr top defenseman in the league. Karlsson had a -26 as the top D man on his team and seemed middle of the pack in defensive capabilities all season. Makar helped carry a team to the playoffs that was constantly shorthanded due to injuries and Fox played very well ona Rangers team that was riding its G and D all season/playoffs.
WlNNIPEGJETS
Josh Norrissey
No_Designer_5374
Can we put the « Adam Fox is an elite D-man » stuff to bed yet, or not?
SiidChawsby
The fact that Makar is here in place of Dahlin is a complete joke.
50Callahan
Miro was robbed!
abassassasssin
He wont deserve it but he very well might. Crap at defense but still wins best defensemen
Indigo-Snake
I’m honestly confused… when Quinn Hughes was nominated people were saying he only puts up points but had a very negative +/- so he can’t win Norris. Now Karlsson had a high number of points with a negative +/- and he is somehow a lock? I love Karlsson, he’s one of my favorite D-men of all time but I don’t get the logic here
Grimmer026
Yes, no brainer
GarthStaniar
People keep talking about how Karlsson being on a poor team makes this even more impressive, but I think this is too simple of an explanation, and I think in reality it makes this slightly less impressive. On a better team, he would not be relied upon for scoring; the team would not expect him to produce offense as much as possible and his numbers would probably go down as he focuses more on responsible defense (which clearly lacked this season in favor of producing offense).
Since the team was so brutal, I think Karlsson had something of an offensive reckless abandon because if he gives up a horrible 2 on 1 or 2 on 0 it doesn’t shift the needle much for the team in the long run. I think his defensive stats this year reinforce this. He has essentially played as a forward at the blue line, which he would probably not do on a better team.
37 Comments
Yes. Absolute lock. Probably be close to unanimous.
It really goes against the pattern of « the Norris usually goes to a D man who made playoffs » but 101 points is a historic achievement that’s impossible to ignore.
EK65 absolute lock 🔐
EK65 will not win the nomination…. for the Lindsey
Should be Karlsson
A lock. And who cares a about actual defense when your team is garbage? Congrats but also meh
If he doesn’t this league is even more fucked than I thought
The worst defense man of the 3 will win because he has points
He better be!!!
If it were for best offensive defenceman then maybe, he gets cratered in his own end tho. Dude is legit just a 4th forward that plays defence
Yeah it’s a lock for me. 101 points is absolutely historic. Especially with that Sharks roster.
I know Cale had solid production and as did fox and that there’s only 3 nominee spots, but Morrissey and Hamilton deserved votes, as did Hughes and Montour
I mean if they consider scoring points as the prerequisite for being the leagues best defenseman, then yeah. But there are other metrics that really show what the best defenseman is…if he has those too then yeah it’s a lock.
I hope so. EK65’s comeback was my favourite storyline of the season.
It’s gotta be EK65, right?
Even us Sharks fans know he isn’t the best « defense »man, but as another poster properly stated, it’s about winning games and getting points and if your defenseman is a huge driver in racking up said points, then he deserves it.
That said, given the absolutely braindead tomfoolery that plagues the NHL right now, I wouldn’t be surprised if it somehow *doesn’t* go to Karlsson.
Like Bedard to Chicago, not surprised. Just extremely disappointed in the league as per usual.
EK65 needs to win the Norris.
Yup, this year. Although he’s probably one of the top five players in NHL, Maker shouldn’t even be there.
Simply put, yeah.
He will be a lock. It’s hard to argue against 101 points. Especially on a team as bad as the Sharks were. I am going to say, though, that Karlsson is not very strong defensively. I’d like to see a Bobby Orr Award for the defenseman who is best at the offensive aspect of the game, and the Norris is for the best all around.
Didn’t josi just have 5 less points and he didn’t win it
Are we sure EK even played D last year?
similar to how the selke trophy is awarded to the best defensive forward, there needs to be a trophy for the best offensive defence man. this way the norris can be focused on actual defence instead of point numbers.
Norris shouldn’t be just about points.
How is he at defending though?
I hope not.
101pts, sure….-26 also.
If he was 60pts and +26 on a terrible team, then sure. It would show that he was keeping an ahl roster defensively sound.
Scoring a ton of points just shows he was given a lot more space to put up points. He was amazing defensively years ago, but he’s a 4th forward now.
He should be. And also a favourite for the Hart. That definitely shouldn’t go to McDavid. Oilers had 4 players with 100+ points this season. McDavid isn’t as important to the Oilers as Karlsson is for the Sharks when it comes to offensive production.
Call me old fashioned, but it seems odd to give the Norris to a defenseman who doesn’t play defense.
Even if you make the argument that the Norris should go to the best *defense*man (which I do), you can’t ignore Karlsson’s season. It’s his this year.
-26 is disgraceful for a Norris trophy winner but, I agree, he’s very likely to win.
I will get down voted but no. Points are great but this isn’t about scoring points, it’s about being thr top defenseman in the league. Karlsson had a -26 as the top D man on his team and seemed middle of the pack in defensive capabilities all season. Makar helped carry a team to the playoffs that was constantly shorthanded due to injuries and Fox played very well ona Rangers team that was riding its G and D all season/playoffs.
Josh Norrissey
Can we put the « Adam Fox is an elite D-man » stuff to bed yet, or not?
The fact that Makar is here in place of Dahlin is a complete joke.
Miro was robbed!
He wont deserve it but he very well might. Crap at defense but still wins best defensemen
I’m honestly confused… when Quinn Hughes was nominated people were saying he only puts up points but had a very negative +/- so he can’t win Norris. Now Karlsson had a high number of points with a negative +/- and he is somehow a lock? I love Karlsson, he’s one of my favorite D-men of all time but I don’t get the logic here
Yes, no brainer
People keep talking about how Karlsson being on a poor team makes this even more impressive, but I think this is too simple of an explanation, and I think in reality it makes this slightly less impressive. On a better team, he would not be relied upon for scoring; the team would not expect him to produce offense as much as possible and his numbers would probably go down as he focuses more on responsible defense (which clearly lacked this season in favor of producing offense).
Since the team was so brutal, I think Karlsson had something of an offensive reckless abandon because if he gives up a horrible 2 on 1 or 2 on 0 it doesn’t shift the needle much for the team in the long run. I think his defensive stats this year reinforce this. He has essentially played as a forward at the blue line, which he would probably not do on a better team.