2023-24 James Norris Memorial Trophy finalists: Quinn Hughes, Roman Josi, Cale Makar | Winner: Quinn Hughes

[KirkAlbuquerque]

I want to see someone win the award for best defenceman for actually being an outstanding defender, rather than for point totals as a defenceman.

Fox already won

 

[Chairman Maouth]

I wont deny this possibility and kudos to him for playing through it. He did show grit and toughness which I did not expect from him.

My issue with Hughes is he is a possession monster but when he doesn't have the puck he struggles to regain it, and he has issues in his own end. Obviously only in the playoffs because you dont see him having these problems as much in the rugular season.

Kid is not built for playoff hockey and with as talented as he is, he is not the guy to put his team on his back and takeover a game like Makar can. I have always had Makar and Heiskanen above him in my D ranking listed, but these playoffs are showing even more that my opinions were justified. Oilers fans will mention Bouchard and on paper he is doing really well but something about him I just cant get behind. Might be bc I just dont watch enough oilers games and really analyze him but I never liked him going back to when he won the Memorial cup and was getting so much praise.


I completely understand that, but playoffs are showing who the best of the best is, and Hughes is not him.

I've watched Quinn Hughes battle and improve his game both defensively and then offensively for three years in a row. He said it in the off-season - that he needed to work on his game - and then he did exactly that. Back then I was unable to convince anyone that Hughes is a warrior whose main goal is to improve as a player. Now, at 24 years old, he's the favourite for the Norris Trophy and I doubt that you will be the first person that I convince.

Hughes has an established record of improving his game every season. I can't wait to see what he has in store for us next season.

 

[Rowlet]

Says the guy from BC. I live in Boston I'm not even a Dallas or Avs fan.

All you stat nerds do is look at points. Majority of Hughes assists this year are just a pass back to the point and him passing the puck to the next open guy. He doesn't create the way Makar does in the offensive zone. Also he plays a full 2 minutes on the PP while all other D split with PP2.

I don't care how many secondary assists Hughes gets. When the game is tight and you need a D that you can rely on, Hughes will never be that guy. Proof is in the pudding. He had his chance to show what he was made of this year in the playoffs and he showed that he is not him. How many times did he air mail pucks into the neutral zone bc he was scared of getting hit. Cmon man. YOU take the homer glasses off.

If you think Josi, Dahlin, or Fox would get picked over Heiskanen then there is no helping you. Josi is getting old. Did you see how bad he looked these playoffs? Dahlin has been doing well but he isn't same tier as Heiskanen. Bringing up Fox is a joke, nobody would take him if they already had Makar. Fox is another guy who plays scared in the playoffs.

How about Even Strength possession as per Hockey Reference?

23-24 regular season:

Corsi:
Hughes 57.5%
Heisk 57.1%

Corsi% Relative to Team:
Hughes 10.9
Heiskanen 6.2

Fenwick:
Hughes 54.9
Heiskanen 56.3

Fenwick% Relative to Team:
Hughes 7.2
Heiskanen 5.0

I guess that's pretty close, but Hughes still has the advantage.

What if we look at the 2024 playoffs:

Corsi:
Hughes 59.5%
Heiskanen 47.8%

Corsi% Relative:
Hughes 18.3
Heiskanen -1.4

Fenwick:
Hughes 59.1%
Heiskanen: 47.4%

Fenwick% Relative:
Hughes 18.1
Heiskanen -3.4

It looks like of the two, Hughes is the one who takes his game to the next level while Heiskanen gets folded in the playoffs. Heiskanen's corsi and fenwick aren't just worse than usual, they're worse than team average and net negative.

 

[Koivu11]

 

[Avs44]

Well deserved to Hughes.

 

[Koivu11]

Full voting results:

 

[Rowlet]

It wasn't even close

 

[Foppberg]

Wow.

 

[Zanon]

Full voting results:

Not even close. Congrats Quinn!

 

[BWJM]

Quinn is impressive all-around. Great speech too.

 

[rypper]

There was no doubt in my mind. He was the best this season.

 

[Chaos Giraffe]

Full voting results:

Which clown voted Bouchard 2nd? LMAO

 

[Rowlet]

Which clown voted Bouchard 2nd? LMAO

Which 5 clowns voted Hughez 3rd??

 

[BKarchitect]

Congrats Quinn! Fully deserved!

 

[Koivu11]

Which clown voted Bouchard 2nd? LMAO

I believe the votes are made public later on so I guess we’ll see.

 

[Phrasing]

Pavel Buchnevich in shambles.

 

[BKarchitect]

Which clown voted Bouchard 2nd? LMAO

Voting past the finalists tends to be stupid. Hedman shouldn’t be remotely that high either. And some of those guys shouldn’t even have a single vote when somebody like Weegar had a legitimately great year and can’t find a vote. Which is hilarious because Weegar has placed high before in years he shouldn’t have been on there but the year he should be…nothing.

 

[rypper]

Which clown voted Bouchard 2nd? LMAO

Jim Matheson. I almost guarantee it.

 

[jigglysquishy]

Thought Makar would finish 2nd but I think they made the right choice.

 

[Bgav]

I want to see someone win the award for best defenceman for actually being an outstanding defender, rather than for point totals as a defenceman.

Stay up and watch Quinn play then lol

 

[Canuckle1970]

Congrats to Huggy! Just love watching you play.

 

[Bgav]

Pretty funny makar and Hughes are probably buddies and respect the hell out of each others game. You go on HF and people gotta lie and say he’s bad defensively lol

 

[thekernel]

Amazing performance this year, glad to see him get the respect he deserves. He was incredible

 

[Czechboy]

Hughes was exceptional and a very deserving winnger.

Hope everyone noticed Bouch was 5th. Tremendous company he is keeping. I'd say elite company to be honest.

 

[nergish]

Damn that feels good.

I knew this day was coming 5 years ago, but it still feels fantastic.