Slavin would’ve won it a few times by now. Some teams have a couple good options…Brodin and Faber. Gavrikov and Mikey Anderson. Ekholm, Forsling, Lindell. McDonagh. Vlasic.
Some of it depends on what you are prioritizing - a guy who can play a pure shutdown role against the biggest stars in the league (example - heads up against McDavid or MacKinnon or Kucherov, give me Slavin all day, I don’t care what the fancy graphs say)? Or…a guy deployed in heavy defensive situations with good defensive metrics? Does playing a more blended role with great defensive metrics penalize you? Does being a warrior blocking shots and battling to clear your own crease make you good at defense or only mean you get hemmed in a lot and bleed shots against?
As much as I love the love for “defensive” masters, such an award brings up as many mixed questions about intent and how to judge it as the existing Norris does…IMO…