The Latest 2016 Norris Trophy Rankings in the NHL

With one month to go in the NHL's 2015-16 regular season, the awards race is heating up.

The Norris Trophy for the NHL's best defenseman is awarded based on votes by members of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association. At the end of the regular season, each writer ranks his top five choices, which are then assigned a numerical value.

The winner is the player who earns the highest total score when all the ballots are counted, while the top three point-getters will be announced as the award nominees.

Just before Christmas, I ranked the top Norris candidates in this article.

Injuries have bumped John Carlson of the Washington Capitals and Justin Faulk of the Carolina Hurricanes out from among possible front-runners. Meanwhile, P.K. Subban's Norris stock has been damaged by the Montreal Canadiens' struggles as a team, his low goal total and head coach Michel Therrien calling him out for bad defensive decisions after a loss on Feb. 17.

Beyond that, we're looking at a lot of the same faces in the mix as well as a couple of fresh names.

Keeping in mind that only the top three candidates will earn any recognition when the NHL awards are handed out in June, who do you think will capture the voters' fancy when they cast their ballots?

Honorable Mentions

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These five defensemen have all had commendable seasons but aren't likely to hear their names called when the 2016 Norris candidates are announced.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Arizona Coyotes

Oliver Ekman-Larsson is often heralded as the Arizona Coyotes' secret weapon. He's good, no doubt, but he can become invisible when his team is having a bad night—and there have been plenty of bad nights during his six years in the desert.

Ekman-Larsson already has 49 points this season, a career high, but his Norris stock has dropped with progressively lower vote totals over each of the past three seasons.

He'll need a winning team around him before he can earn serious top-three consideration.

Roman Josi, Nashville Predators

The biggest obstacle in the way of a serious Norris bid for Roman Josi may well be his teammate, Shea Weber.

Weber has finished in the top eight in Norris voting for seven consecutive seasons between 2009 and 2015 and landed in fourth place last year. For his part, Josi placed fifth and has out-produced Weber in both of the last two seasons.

As Weber's heavy playing style takes a toll on his body, 25-year-old Josi is still coming into his prime. The torch is being passed, but voters still face a tough decision when choosing which Nashville Predators blueliner to include on their ballots.

Duncan Keith, Chicago Blackhawks

Duncan Keith and his Chicago Blackhawks are heading toward the playoffs looking very much like the defending Stanley Cup Champions, but individual award talk is focused mostly on Patrick Kane and—unexpectedly—oft-maligned goaltender Corey Crawford, who has been magnificent this season.

Excellence in Chicago is now the standard. Keith is already a two-time Norris winner from 2010 and 2014, which will encourage voters to throw their votes a different way this year.

Ryan Suter, Minnesota Wild

Since they were signed as unrestricted free agents during the summer of 2012, Ryan Suter and Zach Parise have helped turn the Minnesota Wild into a playoff team but have yet to get to the next level.

Suter was a runner-up in Norris voting in his first season with the Wild, but his status slipped after that (fourth in 2013-14 and ninth last season). He's still an effective workhorse, but the Wild remain at risk of missing the postseason for the first time in four years.

Suter won't climb back into serious Norris consideration until he can put his team on his back and pull it up among the elite teams in the tough Central Division.

Marc-Edouard Vlasic, San Jose Sharks

The man they called "Pickles" in San Jose turned heads when he was named to Team Canada's preliminary roster for the World Cup of Hockey on March 2. Vlasic got the nod ahead of his higher-profile teammate Brent Burns as well as 2014 Olympic teammates P.K. Subban, Jay Bouwmeester, Alex Pietrangelo and Dan Hamhuis.

Vlasic has been a quietly effective defenseman with the San Jose Sharks who has only earned Norris votes once before—he finished 12th in 2013-14.

At 28, he's in the prime of his career, but he may have to wait for the Sharks to finally make a splash in the postseason before he earns meaningful recognition from the PHWA.

6. Brent Burns, San Jose Sharks

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Previous Ranking: Not ranked

2015-16 Stats to Date: 66 GP, 24-36-60, even plus/minus, 26:10 TOI

Norris Pedigree: He finished 12th in voting in 2007-08.

 

Why He's Here

Brent Burns is a tricky case for Norris voters—and for NHL coaches. He has great size at 6'5" but is not exactly known for his unwavering commitment to the defensive side of the game.

On the other hand, Burns is good with the puck—so much so that he spent a couple of seasons at forward with the San Jose Sharks under Todd McLellan.

In 2014-15, Burns shifted back to the blue line, where he has continued to put up points. He is now at a career-high 24 goals, and with 16 games to go, he has a shot at surpassing the 31 goals Mike Green recorded with the Washington Capitals in 2008-09 to become the highest-scoring defenseman in the NHL in more than 20 years.

Burns has also seen his ice time increase this season under new coach Peter DeBoer to a career-high 26 minutes and 10 seconds per game. Like many of the league's top defenders, he's high-risk, high-reward, but he's prominent.

Game results often hinge on players like Burns, and this season, that stat has skewed positive for the Sharks.

5. Dustin Byfuglien, Winnipeg Jets

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Previous Ranking: Not ranked

2015-16 Stats to Date: 66 GP, 16-27-43, plus-five, 24:51 TOI

Norris Pedigree: He finished seventh in voting in 2010-11.

 

Why He's Here

The Winnipeg Jets are a long way out of the playoff picture, but Dustin Byfuglien created a lot of buzz this season as he headed toward unrestricted free agency. He ultimately signed a five-year contract with a salary-cap hit of $7.6 million a season to stay in Winnipeg, per CapFriendly.

As things stand, that'll rank Byfuglien third in cap hit among defensemen next season, behind only Subban ($9 million) and Weber ($7.9 million).

How'd Big Buff get so lucky? Like Burns, he approaches his job as a bit of a rover who's able to contribute at both ends of the ice. But on top of what Burns brings to the table, Byfuglien's bruising 260-pound frame makes him virtually immovable at either end of the ice.

Byfuglien's the definition of "tough to play against," whether he's defending his zone or pushing the pace on offense.

As he finishes his 10th NHL season, Byfuglien has proved that he isn't slowed by his size and can use it to his advantage. Expect to see him start to collect Norris votes this season on his way to an appearance as a finalist in the not-too-distant future.

4. John Klingberg, Dallas Stars

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Previous Ranking: Fourth

2015-16 Stats to Date: 66 GP, 10-43-53, plus-11, 22:54 TOI

Norris Pedigree: He finished fifth in Calder Trophy voting in 2014-15 despite playing just 65 games in his rookie season.

Why He's Here

John Klingberg turned heads when he stepped onto the Dallas Stars blue line and chalked up an impressive 40 points in 65 games as a rookie. He was also plus-five on a team that tied for 26th in goals against in 2014-15.

No sophomore slump here. In 66 games this season, Klingberg has improved on those numbers with 53 points and a plus-11 rating on a team that could make some big noise in the playoffs.

Klingberg was sidelined on March 4 with what coach Lindy Ruff is calling a "short-term" lower-body injury, according to Mark Stepneski of the Stars' website. As long as he doesn't miss too much time, the 23-year-old could represent the next wave of defensemen in this year's Norris voting.

3. Kris Letang, Pittsburgh Penguins

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Previous Ranking: Not ranked

2015-16 Stats to Date: 56 GP, 12-39-51, minus-2, 26:18 TOI

Norris Pedigree: He finished third in voting in 2012-13.

Why He's Here

Heading into the home stretch of 2015-16, Kris Letang has set a new personal record for points in a season, and best of all, he is healthy and playing well as the playoffs draw near.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have surged since Mike Sullivan took over behind the bench in mid-December, going 19-14-5. Letang has been one of the catalysts, with 32 points in his last 28 games.

Pittsburgh's still in a dogfight to make the playoffs—just three points ahead of the Philadelphia Flyers with three head-to-head games remaining on the schedule against its Pennsylvania rivals. If Letang shines and the Penguins prevail, he'll earn Norris votes as a reward for a bounce-back season after a long stretch of injury and health issues.

2. Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings

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Previous Ranking: Second

2015-16 Stats to Date: 65 GP, 13-30-43, plus-19, 28:22 TOI

Norris Pedigree: He finished second in voting behind Erik Karlsson in 2014-15.

 

Why He's Here

As the Los Angeles Kings gear up to take another run at the Stanley Cup, Drew Doughty ranks third among defensemen in ice time, fourth in plus/minus and is on his way to his best offensive season since his sophomore year.

Doughty has been one of the mainstays of the Kings' Cup successes and appears to be dialing up his aggressive snarl as April draws near.

In a different year, Doughty's all-around game might be enough to warrant a Norris win. But once again, one man stands in the way out in Ottawa.

1. Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators

Claus Andersen/Getty Images

Previous Ranking: First

2015-16 Stats to Date: 68 GP, 11-57-68, minus-four, 29:10 TOI

Norris Pedigree: Two-time Norris winner (2011-12 and 2014-15).

Why He's Here

In my December ranking, Erik Karlsson was on pace for 88 points—more than the 87 points that NHL leading scorer Jamie Benn won the Art Ross Trophy with in 2014-15.

Thirty-three games later, Karlsson's pace has cooled slightly, but he's still the runaway favorite to win his third Norris Trophy at a ceremony that will take place just after his 26th birthday.

With that said, Karlsson is pointless in his last four games and may have trouble generating the type of offense he has for most of the season now that the Ottawa Senators are all but out of this year's playoff race.

Nevertheless, he now leads the entire NHL in ice time at 29:10 per game—yes, even ahead of Ryan Suter—and he's seeing 1:08 per game of work on the penalty kill in addition to his regular five-on-five and power-play duties.

Karlsson turns heads for his offense, but his all-around game is good enough that he'd be an upgrade on the top pairing of almost any blue line in the league.

Stats courtesy of NHL.com. Award history from Hockey-Reference.com.