Boud
Registered User
- Dec 27, 2011
- 14,463
- 8,325
Seems like a lot of people are down on Norris. He's pacing at almost 50 points coming off of major surgery where the focus would have been rehab not strength training. At 8M AAV and with projected cap growth, his contract isn't outrageous. The center position is a huge strength for us. No need to move any of them.
What we need to sort out is the LD position and how we get a decent RD out of the LD strength
I think a lot of people were skeptical about Norris sustaining a 8M$ level of play from the get go. He's got an amazing shot and he plays center but I think a lot of people were debating whether he would be worth that price tag even before the injury. He's always been a softer player and he doesn't really play like a center. He's not the type of center that makes players around him better, he needs guys that complement him on his line for him to be productive and he won't be the guy to make his linemates better. I think it's a shame that him, Tkachuk and Batherson can't find a groove because they were a great fit a few seasons ago. I think all 3 have been struggling this season actually. Batherson had his moments and so does Tkachuk but they've been really bad for chunk of games.
Add the multiple shoulder injuries on top of that, the team being one of the worst in the NHL, Norris not playing well at all, and it's not all that surprising that some people are down on him.
The real issue is that the team is not playing well and Norris has not played well at any point this season really. This team needs Norris to play at a 8M$ level to even sniff the playoffs so naturally people are (probably unreasonably) frustrated.
I'm anxious to see what he'll look like next year with a full offseason to get stronger, faster and reinforce that shoulder.
Besides, there's no point in discussing trading Norris right now we would get nothing valuable for a guy on that type of contract who still hasn't proven he can play longer periods of time without his shoulder giving up. He's never really proved he's worth that contract either and certainly the last 2 years haven't helped.