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Erik Karlsson is having a historic season for NHL defenseman.. THIS is why.



#hockey #nhl #ottawasenators

Erik Karlsson is the front runner to win the Norris trophy this season.. but some argue whether he truly deserves it based on his defensive play & overall team performance. In this video, we break down why this narrative is overused & what it would mean if Karlsson could get 100 points in a season.

28 Comments

  1. Karlsson has always been a liability defensively. For the sens he had methot to clean up his messes. Here being on a bad team also allows the player to take higher risks because at the end of the day it doesnt really matter. On a team that is doing real well you would tend to play a little simpler more safe game. That all being said I havent really watched him since he left the sens being on the east coast and not really caring about the sharks so dont really know too much about his season other than numbers.

  2. Karlsson deserves the Norris as it includes both offensive and defensive stats…. managing to get the points on the team he is playing is a miracle. you can not keep adding more trophies as it only will water down the meaning of the awards

  3. Bottom five? My guy… my sharks are bottom 2 at best. EK65 has been so damn expensive. It's just great to finally see him play so well when we're an absolutely garbage club rn.

  4. I'm looking at the list of winners, and it's extremely rare that the winner isn't also good defensively. Many of the winners (Bourque, Chelios, Lidstrom, Chara, Hedman) would probably have also won the award of the defenseman that is the hardest to play against. As long as we keep the pure offensive d-men winners for the years where they are truly exceptional – like Karlsson this year – I don't think we need another award.

  5. Offense has always been overrated, if only because it is much more difficult to grade defensive skills.

  6. There should be three awards, best offensive defensemen, best defensive defensemen and best overall defensemen

  7. They have to split the Norris into two trophies. Orr trophy for offense and keep Norris for defense maybe. If someone truly is the best at both one year they should win both.

  8. Many people have been advocating for two awards for years. I’m betting it’s going to be a while before it happens, if at all.

  9. The Norris should be the best defensemen overall. add the Bobby Orr for the most productive defensemen. If the art Ross and rocket are 2 distinct awards, add the booby orr

  10. Yes. Its a defensive award so its assumed that the trophy should be awarded the the best defender. It should be based on a player's ability to defend. When a team needs a shutdown defenseman they don't look to someone like Karlsson to fill that role. Nothing against Karlsson's offensive accomplishment, which is impressive, however, this doesn't make him the best defender in the league. If the defensive award is not based on a player's defensive ability then they should create another award that is.

  11. Thank you for bringing that. There should be two trophies. As a hockey player, I find it really hard to play with a fully offensive defenseman.

  12. As someone who really hates the Sharks I have to admit that he deserves the honors. Most players would have already shut down and enjoy the "fall hard for Bedard" he's still going on full cylinders and playing like they still have a playoff chance.

  13. With all due respect no he’s not the best at turning defense into offense. I’m sure it seems that way Bc he’s the only nhl caliber player for San Jose. He’s not as good as cale makar. Sorry brother. He’s just not. Just Bc the avalanche have other guys who can score doesn’t mean karllson is better than makar. If he were such a huge asset, a playoff team would probably want him….

  14. Agree! It is amazing what Eric Karlsson have accomplished this season….and with a weak team as well to add.
    He deserves 100% the Norris Trophy for best defenseman and is also IMO a nominee candidate for Hart Trophy as league MVP!
    Bobby Orr was great FOR HIS TIME but it was a much-much simpler era where defense did not exist and goaltending was a joke compared to today.
    Back then no one wanted to be the goalie and the goalies that was good for its time where few.

  15. Imagine a best defensive defenseman award. Rob Scuderi might be a hall of famer if they had such an award. He'd probably have won like 10 of those.

  16. Keep the Norris for the best defenseman and add one for the highest scoring D man, and name it after Bobby Orr.
    While we're at at it, how about an award for the most assists named after Gretzky.

  17. I think the Norris has been tainted for a long time, but I also don't expect fans or even media to wise up about defense. Therefore I think the solution is really just a second award, voted on by players, that focuses on "overall" defensive performance by a defenseman. It should be called the Stevens Award. The end. Edit: holy crap you just said the exact same thing (I wrote that about halfway through the video)

  18. Karl’s son is trying to be the living embodiment of “The best defense is a good offense” but he can’t make the best defense because the defense is trash 😂

  19. It's good to see him make a resurgence. I believe if he was on a line with some superstars, he would be doing even better.

  20. It would be ridiculous for the NHL to care about a defenseman's defensive impact for deciding the Norris just when we're seeing one of the greatest performances from a defenseman ever.

  21. im a huge sharks fan, first of all, and also first of all, i hope he stays with the team (praying praying praying). by the way, this team is, or, was, very close to being a playoff contender. they are probably one of the most enigmatic teams of all time. they are almost always right there with the best teams in the league – sometimes even clearly outplaying them – but they are utter TRASH at home, and they play trash against bad teams. i cant make sense of it and i would love to watch any commentator try to explain it. the sharks commentators – one of them being randy hahn whom i think is one of the best hockey commentators and minds in the world – has not been able to make sense of it. nor has any of the other sharks commentators, who are also excellent at what they do. so no, this sharks team is not as horrible as this youtuber repeatedly says they are. … which IS important, as we all hope karlsson stays with the team, and the team is higher up in the standings next year by this point in the season. and i think they can be. (even without timo meier, yes). … i think i meant to say at the start of this – i hope he breaks 100 points and wins the norris trophy. i believe his sharks teammates will be trying for that, as a sort of balm for this disappointing and otherwise forgettable season. i certainly hope they are keen on doing that, and if the steady reports from karlsson are true – that the locker room chemistry has been good, and that it has been enjoyable to come to work all year – then the team should absolutely be gunning for helping him get 100 and get the norris. ironically, i think it appears that karlsson is tanking a bit to help the team be last place and get the #1 pick (lol). which would be really awesome on his part! if true. perhaps it could be the one thing that keeps him with the sharks, and makes the sharks an instant playoff team next year – if they got the 1 pick. i think karlsson would rather have the sharks wind up with the 1 pick than himself getting 100 points. i do believe that. ifi i did not believe it sincerely, i would not be such a fan of his. i have no problem saying "MEH!" to very good sports stars who are not good people. EK is a genuinely very good guy, and … yeah, i would be sad to see him depart. he is definitely the best player to ever come thru this organization, and i think he is one of the most genius hockey players to ever live. he is off the charts in so many categories.

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