2020 Norris Finalists: Carlson, Hedman, Josi. UPD: Josi wins

[sureLoss]

Frank Seravalli @frank_seravalli
2020 Norris Trophy finalists, as voted by @ThePHWA: John Carlson (WSH), Victor Hedman (TBL) and Roman Josi (NSH).

[agulati]

It would be cool to have polls in these to see how CP feels about these finalists. Josi IMO should win this.

[CroFlames]

Feels like a distant memory now, but didn't John Carlson have a record setting first half or something?

It's his to lose I think.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Josi, by the largest margin of all awards.

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

Feels like a distant memory now, but didn't John Carlson have a record setting first half or something?

It's his to lose I think.

Josi has second most points, and is way better defensively. He will run away with this one.

[Monahammer]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

Feels like a distant memory now, but didn't John Carlson have a record setting first half or something?

It's his to lose I think.

IIRC he was among the league leaders in points like 30 games in or something ridiculous.

Great season for him for sure. I think he is deserving of the nod for the trophy, but I know that the hockey world has been captivated by Josi for a few seasons now.

[dammage79]

And here I thought this was Carlsons.

[Huntingwhale]

Will be interesting to see how the votes are for this award once they are posted. I thought it was Carlsson's to lose given his pace out the gate (wasn't he on Orr's pace or something crazy like that?) and he sustained it pretty well. But I do think Rosi is due a trophy or 2 during his career.

Can't believe both players are only 30. I thought they were both older as it feels like they've been around forever, especially Josi.

Just goes to show how much longer defencemen take to develop and their prime usually comes much later then forwards.

[rohara66]

Originally Posted by dammage79

And here I thought this was Carlsons.

It is.



There's easy money to made for everyone that thinks Josi walks away with this because Carl is the runaway favorite.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Josi should win. I am not convinced he does. I think it's pretty close to even money, though. There has been a long campaign to point out that while Carlson scores more, Josi is all around the better player. That may have had time to resonate with the break.

[Scroopy Noopers]

We need a Bobby Orr award for best offensive/Highest scoring D man.

[Monahammer]

I would normally agree with the offensive d man split of the award, but this year Carlson was over a ppg and still had pretty phenomenal defense to back that up.

Josi is a great player but when was the last time a team's undisputed best defensive d man also put up over a ppg? Erik Karlsson was never Ottawa's best defensive d man...

[timbit]

Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers

We need a Bobby Orr award for best offensive/Highest scoring D man.

Yet, Orr has 4 of the top 12 individual season plus stats in NHL history , including the highest plus for a season, 1970/71 (at age 21), PLUS 124!
That same season he had 139 points.

Best player I’ve ever seen.

[agulati]

Josi had 65 points in 69 games and led the predators in scoring. The second highest point total was 17 points behind him (Forsberg, 48). The third highest was 23 points behind Josi (Duchene, 42)

Carlson had 75 points in 69 games while leading the caps in scoring. Ovechkin had 67 points (Second in scoring), Backstrom (54), Vrana (52), Kuznetsov (52) and Oshie (49) followed in scoring totals.

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

I would normally agree with the offensive d man split of the award, but this year Carlson was over a ppg and still had pretty phenomenal defense to back that up.

Josi is a great player but when was the last time a team's undisputed best defensive d man also put up over a ppg? Erik Karlsson was never Ottawa's best defensive d man...

Phenomenal Defense?

The only players who allowed more 5 on 5 goals against in the entire league this season are players on terrible teams that weren't in the top 8 in their conference, or they are Oilers.

[rohara66]

Hockey News:

NORRIS TROPHY
1. John Carlson, Capitals – Pretty much a wire-to-wire favorite. Even though he’d fallen off his 100-point clip, Carlson was on pace for 89 points, easily the most by a defenseman since Ray Bourque had 91 in 1993-94, a season in which the NHL averaged almost half a goal per game more than it does now. Carlson isn’t a one-way player, either. He logs a lot of minutes in all situations.
2. Roman Josi, Predators – The NHL’s best rover functions as a fourth forward on the ice and remained one of the most consistent offensive forces in the game, flirting with point-per-game production. The Norris goes to the defenseman who generates the best all-around ability at the position, and Josi controls the game from his position as much as any blueliner in the league.

[djsFlames]

Hedman with the annual nod I see.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers

We need a Bobby Orr award for best offensive/Highest scoring D man.

But Orr was not just an offensive defenseman. To imply that is an insult to his game.

If you want an offensive Dman award, call it the Coffee Cup or something.

But Orr was the GOAT.

[FireGilbert]

^Odd take. Calling Orr the best offensive D man ever is completely true and does nothing to take away from his other skills and accomplishments. I’d say creating a new award for the highest scoring Dman and naming it after anyone other than Orr would be a huge insult.

[Jiri Hrdina]

There's been plenty of dmen that have shown they can be excellent two way players. The award should be given to the best all around dman, in consideration of both factors. In rare cases, you may have someone who's offensive (or defensive) attributes are so elite they out weight weaknesses elsewhere, but historically that has been rare.
Guys like Lindstrom, Bourque, Niedermayer, Chara, and Gio won the award because they were great in all ways.