NHL.com/sv asked some of the NHL’s top players who they think will take home their various personal awards next season. Players were interviewed during the European Player Media Tour in Paris and the North American Players Media Tour in Las Vegas during the preseason. In this article, we find out who according to NHL players will be Defender of the Year and win the Norris Trophy.
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Colorado Avalanche Cale Makar is the favorite when players can choose who takes home the award as the best defender of the 2022-23 season. 34 votes were collected during player media meetings in August. Makar scored 22, winning with superior style on both Tampa Bay Lightnings Victor Hedman (8 votes) and the Nashville Predators Romano Josi (4 votes).
To believe the players, 23-year-old Makar will once again bring hockey gloves to the Norris Trophy. Last season, the Canadian scored 86 points (28 + 58) in 77 games and was one of the best players in Colorado. He won the vote and received Norris at the 2022 NHL Awards.
– It looks like I will pick the ones who have already won, but I say Makar will win again, says the captain of the newly appointed team of the Montreal Canadiens Nick Suzuki up to NHL.com/sv.
Choosing a winner in advance is obviously not easy. Last season Makar won ahead of Josi and Hedman despite having scored fewer points than Josi. The Swiss Predator scored a whopping 95 points last season, but was therefore snubbed about the price. So he is also one of the best defenders in the league.
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– I don’t think you can make a bad choice. It’s difficult. Last season must have been one of the most difficult. If I had voted, I probably wouldn’t have known. But reaching nearly 100 points is unbelievable, he says Zach Werenski.
The belief among many of the players questioned is that there will also be among the “normal” names this year.
– Hopefully Roman Josi, of course, but either him or Victor Hedman, says the Swiss Predators striker Nino Niederreiter.
– I say Victor Hedman, says Carolina Hurricanes Jordan Steel.
There are obviously more candidates than Makar, Josi and Hedman. Another is the New York Rangers Adam Fox, who won the award in 2021 and scored 74 points (11 + 63) in 78 games last season. The 24-year-old can compete, his teammates say Philip Chitil And Jacob Forno.
– I love Adam Fox, but I think he got a little ripped off this year. There were certainly some unique leads, but oh how good he was, Trouba says.
– I think it will be between Adam Fox and Cale Makar in the next few years, but I will go with “Foxy,” says Chytil.
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The rookie from last year Moritz Seider gets two votes. The German, originally from the Detroit Red Wings, is coming out of a season in which he scored 50 points (7 + 43) in 82 games and a convincing match all over the field. The 21-year-old, injured from senior SHL experience with Rögle in the 2020-21 season, is compatriot Tim Stützles and the Anaheim Ducks forward Trevor Zegras val.
– “Mo” may be one of those in the conversation, he says Tim Stutzle.
Many other players who have made a name for themselves in the league in recent years are also mentioned in the vote. Dallas stars Mirò Heiskanen vote for yourself.
– Hopefully it will be me, it is … I say it myself, says the Finn, who seems destined to have an even more important role after John Klingberg left the Stars as a free agent this summer.
Ottawa Senators Thomas Chabot a bright future was expected when he scored 55 points (14 + 41) in 70 games in the 2018-19 season. Production of him has declined slightly since then, but in a rising Senate, it’s not impossible for him to step up this season, at least that’s what the Ottawa team captain thinks. Brady Tkachuk.
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– Thomas Chabot. Because he is a very good defender and one of my boys, Tkachuk says of Chabot, who scored 38 points (7 + 31) in 59 games last season.
Chabot has yet to play an entire NHL season (82 games) due to various injuries, perhaps that could help him get a shot at Norris this season.
In Boston there is another name: Charlie McAvoy. The 24-year-old Bruins back rock is about to do his sixth season in the NHL and has gone from strength to strength. Last season he scored 56 points (10 + 46) in 78 games, his best scoring season in the NHL so far. Although he will miss the start of the season due to shoulder surgery, he is a good candidate for the award, says the Bruins goalkeeper. Jeremy Swayman.
– Charlie McAvoy. I think he has a really good chance. It’s a lot of fun to watch, Swayman concludes.
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