The 2023-24 NHL season begins October 10 with a tripleheader on ESPN. To celebrate the start of the season, NHL.com writers and editors are debating who they think will win some of the league’s major awards. Today, the Norris Trophy, awarded each year “to the defensive player who has demonstrated the greatest overall ability at that position throughout the season.” The winner is selected in a Professional Hockey Writers Association poll at the end of the regular season.
Of all the awards handed out last season, one of the most lopsided races occurred in this category, with Erik Karlsson, then of the San Jose Sharks, winning it. He received 123 of 196 possible first-place votes and 1,585 voting points after his 101-point season (25 goals, 76 assists) made him the sixth different defenseman in NHL history and the first since Brian Leetch in 1991-92 to achieve a 100-point season (102).
But it’s a new season and Karlsson is now in Pittsburgh. Can he repeat or will someone else take home the hardware this season?
Here’s who our writers and editors chose to win the Norris:
