For a second straight year, Norris Trophy voters backed up Jake Sanderson's status as a top 10 NHL defenseman. The voting results were unveiled on Tuesday, and Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski was named the winner.
For Sens fans, if finishing in 10th place again sounds disappointing, it says more about the large number of great NHL defensemen than it does about Sanderson's game.
We could dig into the analytics to assess things, but let's be honest. The voters want goals, assists, and points, and Sanderson had a healthy improvement in that area.
Last year, Sanderson recorded 57 points in 80 games. This season, he put up 54 points in just 67 games. So his points-per-game rate jumped from 0.71 to 0.81. Projecting over a full 82-game season, Sanderson would have finished with roughly 66 points.
But voters took his 15 games missed (most of them due to a shoulder injury) fully into account. Even at 66 points over 82 games, there still would have been eight defensemen who produced more.
It's a reflection of just how loaded the position has become.
Look at this year's voting results (in order) Zach Werenski (winner), Cale Makar, Rasmus Dahlin, Evan Bouchard, Moritz Seider, Lane Hutson, Quinn Hughes and Miro Heiskanen all finished ahead of Sanderson. Erik Karlsson, who won two of his three Norris Trophies with Ottawa, finished tied with Sanderson for 10th.
Like most of the men on the above list, Sanderson's value extends well beyond the scoresheet.
There's an old hockey cliché about players being able to stickhandle in a phone booth. If there is one player on the Senators who perfectly fits that description, it's Sanderson.
Whether he's trying to find an outlet pass on a breakout with an aggressive forechecker draped all over him, or attempting to hold the offensive blue line with no space to work with, Sanderson somehow finds a way.
And his skating. My God, the skating.
When you have Tim Stutzle, one of the fastest guys in the league, fanboying about your skating, you know you're at a special level.
Sanderson's quickness allows him to escape pressure that would overwhelm most players. His ability to maintain possession in tight spaces turns broken plays into scoring chances and keeps offensive-zone possessions alive. Ottawa fans see it every night, even if it doesn't always translate into league-wide headlines.
If Senators fans needed another reminder of Sanderson's value (spoiler: they don't) they got one during the first round of the playoffs.
Ottawa entered Game 3 against Carolina, facing a 2-0 series deficit after a heartbreaking overtime loss in Game 2. Back on home ice for the next two games, the Senators were still very much alive in the series and looking to seize some momentum.
But with Carolina leading Game 3, 1-0, disaster struck.
Taylor Hall, who has played a noticeably greasier style in these playoffs, clipped Sanderson in the side of the head with his shoulder. Sanderson tried to stay in the game, but it quickly became clear that something wasn't right, and the timing couldn't have been worse.
The Senators had a lengthy 5-on-3 power play opportunity, and Sanderson, Ottawa's power-play quarterback, was forced to leave the game. For Hall, who was at best reckless on the play, getting a minor penalty with no ensuing suspension for eliminating the opponent's top player was a fabulous trade-off.
The Sens, who were already without Artem Zub, lost that game 2-1 to fall behind 3-0 in the series, which was all but done at that point.
Sanderson's absence served as a reminder of just how valuable he has become. And at some stage, when voting on the best defenseman award, the league needs to introduce a best defensive defenseman award, because Sanderson would be in the mix for that one, too.
As a sidebar, they could call it the Tim Horton Trophy. As my Leafs-loving grandfather would tell me, Horton was one of the greatest shutdown defencemen in NHL history. Meanwhile, the league could probably work out a pretty lucrative sponsorship deal with a certain coffee company while they're at it.
Or just stick with the Norris.
Then create the Bobby OrrTrophy for the league's best offensive defenceman. Orr won 8 Norris Trophies and was the first skater in history to have 100 assists in an NHL season.
For now, though, offensive production remains king, and Sanderson is still climbing the Norris ladder. The encouraging news for Ottawa is that he's climbing it quickly, and he's going to be here for a long time.
Sanderson is signed through the summer of 2032 with a cap hit of $8.05 million per season. When the contract was signed, it looked like a strong deal. Today, it looks like a bargain. In another two or three years, it will be highway robbery.
The scary part for the rest of the league is that, at 23, it's unlikely that Sanderson reached his ceiling. If he stays healthy, continues producing at his current pace and helps lead the Senators on a deeper playoff run, the bigger recognition will come.
A second consecutive top-10 Norris finish may not generate many headlines, but in a league overflowing with elite defencemen, it's another reminder that Sanderson already belongs among the NHL's best.
By Steve Warne
The Hockey News
This article was first published at The Hockey News Ottawa Senators site. For more THN Ottawa articles, click one of the latest stories below:
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