NHL Award Races: Sizing up the Norris race isn't easy, Calder tight

The Norris Trophy is a bit tough to track this season with some usual candidates having blemishes. The Calder meanwhile has a clear leader but a tight race throughout.

By Brian Stubits

Mar 22, 2012 at 12:38 pm ET • 5 min read

Shea Weber has as good a shot as anybody to win the Norris. (Getty Images)

Welcome to Award Races. For every week the remainder of the season, we will break down two of the awards races at a time and see how they are stacking up as the NHL season hits the home stretch.

I'll admit it here, I don't know have a good grasp on this year's Norris Trophy race at all. It has a lot of blemished players who would normally be contenders.

Guys like Nicklas Lidstrom, Kris Letang, Zdeno Chara. There is something holding them back in this conversation in my mind, opening the door for some of the other candidates. I could see this race going any number of ways at this point, and there isn't much season left.

Lidstrom, for example, was right there until he got hurt. I suppose you could make the argument that the team has struggled mightily since he went down, but that would be more an argument for the Hart than Norris. It's just he's been missing at about the worst time, he's not getting the chance to make any real lasting impressions on this season, of course he's made enough impressions over the years. Like last year, when he won the award.

There's Letang who has sat out a couple of different times this season with injuries, including a concussion. When healthy, you could make the argument that he's the best defenseman in the league. But he's on pace to play just over 50 games this season. Still, he's likely going to be a double-digit goal scorer and might crack 40 points.

With Chara, well the numbers are there. He's tied for the best plus/minus among defensemen at plus-25, he has 10 goals and 33 assists while playing a full schedule. But I just have seen to many plays this season that aren't the normal moves by a Norris candidate. On more than one occasion I remember seeing Chara trying to clear the zone by passing the puck through the slot from the end line. They resulted in turnovers.

All of that has opened it up to a mostly new cast of characters, in my book at least. Except for the guy at the top, Shea Weber. He's been in this conversation before and will be again, and again, and again.

Remember, this is just one man's opinion. You have your opinions too, share them below (as if you needed that invitation).

Award watch
Norris		Calder
Shea Weber	There aren't many negatives to point to when you look at Weber's game. He makes big bucks in Nashville and it shows. He stays healthy, he stays responsible and he stays an offensive threat, 14 goals and 29 assists attest to that. Simply put, there is nothing not to like with Weber.	Gabriel Landeskog	Looking at the rookie points race, it's very tight, Landeskog is one point ahead of Henrique who is one ahead of Nugent-Hopkins. But I don't think the Calder race is as close. It's still not a lock, but not entirely open either. Landeskog has done it all for the Avs and his all-around game has been a large reason why the Avs are pushing for the playoffs. That gives him a big edge in my book.
Erik Karlsson	The offensive numbers are incredible. Unprecedented in Senators history and one of the best offensive seasons for a blueliner in some time. And I don't buy that his defense is that awful, he isn't a liability in his own end. No defenseman who is plays more than 25 minutes a game. He's just not as well-rounded as the guy ahead of him now.	Adam Henrique	It's been a great season, no doubt, and he can still win the rookie points race. He has thrived playing with Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk but that's no knock. He put himself in a position to play with them in the first place, he earned it. I just think rookies are playing for second right now.
Brian Campbell	This is where I start to say I think the Norris race is sort of a mess. Campbell isn't a perfect candidate but he does have a lot going for him. He's second in defenseman points, second in time on ice per game in the league, just four seconds behind Duncan Keith. He's the head of a resurgent Panthers team. But he's also minus-7 (not many plus players in Florida).	Ryan Nugent-Hopkins	If it were just about scoring, Nugent-Hopkins would be a runaway choice here. He is almost even with the guys ahead of him in points despite having played a lot fewer games. He's turned the Oilers power play into the best in the league. But all those missed games to injury do hurt (pun not intended).
Alex Pietrangelo	He is the highlight of the league's best defense. He has 11 goals and 35 assists this season, good for the third-best point total in the league among defensemen. His plus-17 ain't too shabby if you like that stat. Maybe I even have him too low here. He is in this conversation now and will remain in it for years.	Carl Hagelin	The speedy Rangers rookie is in the same boat as Nugent-Hopkins in that he hasn't played a full slate of games. But in the 55 games that he has played he has 14 goals and 23 assists with a pretty gaudy plus-22. He's been getting more minutes of late after he was paired with Brad Richards and Marian Gaborik.
Ryan Suter	I'm not going to play the overshadowed card with Suter here. Everybody in the league knows about him too even if he is playing in the same corps as the No. 1 guy on this list. Suter actually logs more minutes of the two, including on the power play. He's not as big a threat as Weber but he has 7 goals and 36 assists.	Matt Read	He's been the best of the numerous rookies the Flyers have relied on this season. His 20 goals are only one behind Landeskog for the rookie lead despite five fewer games. This rookie class is very even and pretty good so you can make the argument he should be higher, I'd listen to it.