Welcome to another edition of our series of mid-season awards here at Last Word On Hockey. Previously we went over our finalists for the Vezina Trophy, and over then next few days we will continue with the Norris and the Hart Trophies as well. For this edition we’ll be focusing on the Norris Trophy. As with our Vezina selections, we will go over our finalists for the Norris as well as an honorable mention.
Mid-Season Norris Trophy Finalists
Last season the award unsurprisingly went to Cale Makar, receiving 97% of the vote for the 2024-25 season. That includes 176 first place votes. With the amount of talent and skill among defenders in this day and age of the NHL, it’s remarkable that Makar has been able to pull so far ahead of the rest of the pack.
Cale Makar – Colorado Avalanche Two Time Norris Winner
In the most non-shocking way possible, Makar is also our first finalist for the award once again. The reasons for this consistent Norris talk is his ability to make things happen in the offensive zone. Leading all defencemen in points with 51, add on the fact that his 22 primary assists are tied for ninth in the league among all players. However it’s not just in the offensive zone that Makar is great. He’s also among the top-ten defencemen in takeaways. The Calgary native who was drafted out of the AJHL has drawn comparisons to eight time Norris winner Bobby Orr over the course of his career.
Zach Werenski – Columbus Blue Jackets
Just like last season, Werenski has found himself in the conversation once again for the Norris Trophy this season. Arguably the best player on the Blue Jackets for the past few seasons had a true breakout season in 2024-25. Over the first half of the season he has picked up 46 points in 39 games. Not only is that second to Makar among all defencemen, he’s also the Blue Jackets leading point scorer by a staggering 11 points. His 16 goals so far is most of all defensemen in the league and also tied for the team lead with Kirill Marchenko. He’s without question one of the most elite players in the NHL right now.
Quinn Hughes – Minnesota Wild
The first two finalists are almost guaranteed locks to be Norris finalists. For the last finalist we decided to turn to our writers and vote for who would join Werenski and Makar. With a 71% selection, our esteemed team at Last Word On Hockey voted for Quinn Hughes to join our finalists ballot. Hughes has solidified the back end for the Wild after being traded this season from the Vancouver Canucks. Since joining the Wild he has been a point per game player, 13 points in 13 games. Among defencemen his Corsi (a metric of shots for versus shots against while on the ice) is among the highest in the league at 59% for the season. Meaning while Hughes is on the ice, the Wild get more shots on goal than their opponents do.
Honorable Mention Norris Finalist Lane Hutson – Montreal Canadiens
Lane Hutson has proved that the “sophomore slump” is a myth with his continued performance with the Canadiens. In 44 games played so far, Hutson has exactly 44 points. Being a point per game player in the NHL is something to be proud of, being a point a game as a defenceman is astounding. Especially for one so young, at just 21 years old, and to already be narrowing in on 100 assists in a career in just his second season is nothing short of amazing. There will be little doubt that Lane Hutson will be a perennial Norris candidate for the rest of his career.
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