Cale Makar Deserves to Win His Second Norris Trophy

For Makar, this has been just another great regular season of many more to come. He is a generational defenseman who breaks not only franchise records but also NHL records each season he plays. However, it will be challenging to add another trophy to his resume. This season has been a tight race for the Norris — the Vancouver Canucks’ Quinn Hughes and Nashville Predators’ Roman Josi put up incredible seasons as well — but here is my case on why Makar should be coming out of this race with his second Norris.

Career Season for Makar

Makar was a top defenseman in the 2023-24 NHL season, with 1.17 points per game (21 goals and 69 assists in 77 games). This is the third-highest average by a defenseman in the last 30 seasons (minimum: 50 games). His performance helped the Avalanche secure their seventh consecutive playoff berth. He set single-season franchise records for assists and points by a defenseman and ranked second among all defensemen in goals (21), assists (69) and points (90) for the season. He was also among the league leaders in power-play points (1st; 39), shorthanded points (tied for 1st; four), power-play assists (2nd; 32), shots on goal (3rd; 231), takeaways (3rd; 70), power-play goals (tied for 3rd; seven), and average time on ice (9th; 24:46).

Makar scored his 300th point in his 280th game (on Jan. 20 against the Philadelphia Flyers), making him the second-fastest defenseman in NHL history to reach this milestone. He fell just one game short of Bobby Orr‘s record (279 games). 

Makar is a finalist for the Norris Trophy for the fourth time in his first five NHL seasons. He won the award in 2021-22, finished second in 2020-21, and placed third in 2022-23. Only three other players have been voted as a finalist at least four times within their first five seasons: Orr (five times), Brad Park (four times), and Denis Potvin (four times). Of these players, only Orr (four times) and Potvin (two times) won the award multiple times within that span.

Offensive Impact Overshadowed by Teammates

Makar stood out in analytics and production despite being on a team with multiple playmakers like Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen and partnered with Devon Toews on defense. MacKinnon has led the team in almost every advanced numeric stat possible this season. However, Makar still manages to contribute, ranking first in the share of possible ice time, third in the percentage of shift starts in the offensive zone, third in goals above expected, and second in assists per 60 minutes. Compared to other Avalanche defensemen, Makar leads in these statistics and more. However, he is mainly second or third team-wide, often overshadowed by MacKinnon’s MVP-caliber season.

Although his competitors may be ranked higher than him, this is mainly because they don’t have teammates who can impact the offense as much as MacKinnon or Rantanen do. Makar’s ability to utilize his teammates’ abilities to the fullest is what makes not only him special but also the Avalanche such a deadly team. While the opponents obviously are aware of Makar and his abilities, they need to be ready for MacKinnon’s speed and explosiveness while carrying the puck, Rantanen’s ability to shoot the puck and the rest of the lineup and their capabilities on the ice. Utilizing his teammate’s skills while using his own is what makes Makar so special, and how head coach Jared Bednar is able to fully utilize his puck-moving skills as well as his excellent skating to complement his teammates in many ways.

Are Individual Awards More Important?

It will be a tight race for the Norris Trophy. It will be interesting to see who the voters vote for for all of the awards, as each one has many nominees it can go to. Each has its case (look at MacKinnon for the MVP), but is this something on Makar’s mind or detrimental to his legacy? No. While having the award and being recognized as the best defenseman of that year is unique, he already has one. While only 25 years old, there is a good chance (barring any injuries) that every season onwards, Makar will be nominated for the Norris Trophy as long as he plays to this level and potentially gets even better. 

There are more critical things to achieve, especially where his game and head are right now, like winning his second Stanley Cup and potentially on his way to his second Conn Smythe Trophy. This isn’t a rationalizing piece to look back on if Makar doesn’t win the trophy; as stated before, all three competitors made monster strides this season with their team and put up impressive performances along the way. I believe it’s time to look at Makar’s relativity short NHL career and see how he can elevate his game to multiple championships and cement himself as an all-time defenseman for the Avalanche and in NHL history.