As far as the Suter - Norris talk, these are my thoughts and considering I posted it in the general board, I may as well transfer it here...
I don't watch enough of other teams to really comment on other candidates, but as a Wild fan I can speak about what I've seen from Suter over his short tenure with the Wild to this point.
If you're going to talk about Suter's game and bring up goals or points, you're pretty much missing the vast majority of what he provides. Put simply, he's not a huge offensive contributor so unless he's springing someone up the ice on an outlet or showing up on the score sheet of a pretty talented PP, he's not going to dictate a game offensively.
What Ryan Suter does give this Wild team is a player who is among the best I've seen in a while in terms of winning a battle, gaining possession, and turning up the ice in transition. Given how this game is currently played, these are vital traits. Add in his ability to lock down half the game and seemingly look no worse for the wear and I'd say he's pretty special.
That may or may not be worth the Norris in some people's eyes and as a fan, I have to say player trophies mean very little to me. I'm just thrilled to have this guy on the back end of my favorite team. I don't think Suter plays a flawless game and he'll certainly have moments where you'll scratch your head. But those tend to be few and far between and they seem to magnify themselves given how often he's actually on the the ice (in all situations) and how bad a miss-play/read may look in relation to what you're accustom to seeing from him.
As far as some of the Brodin comments. I would say he started off the year as good, if not better, than any player on this Wild team. He then took a puck to the face, sat out a bit with a broken cheekbone and then returned. Up until last night, I've thought since he came back he was a borderline liability. I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt as I'm sure playing with a broken face isn't all that easy. But now with the mask off, I'd like to see him get his game back to where it needs to be. And again, last night was a step in the right direction.