After another big scoring year, Capitals defenseman John Carlson received votes again for the Norris Trophy.
Carlson finished 12th in voting, receiving two fourth-place votes. New York Rangers’ rearguard Adam Fox, who was playing in only his second NHL season, won the award (743 points) after finishing first among defenseman in assists (42), second in points (47), second in power-play assists (21), third in takeaways (38), and third in power-play points (23). Fox, who was on 99 of 100 ballots, narrowly beat out second-place Cale Makar (655) and third-place Victor Hedman (433). Last year’s winner, Roman Josi, finished 14th in voting after receiving a fourth place and fifth-place vote.
2020-21 Norris Trophy Voting
| Rank | Player | Points | (1st-2nd-3rd-4th-5th) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Adam Fox, NYR | 743 | (40-34-17-6-2) |
| 2. | Cale Makar, COL | 655 | (31-30-22-7-4) |
| 3. | Victor Hedman, TBL | 433 | (22-12-16-13-10) |
| 4. | Dougie Hamilton, CAR | 239 | (1-8-20-21-10) |
| 5. | Charlie McAvoy, BOS | 125 | (2-4-8-10-7) |
| 6. | Shea Theodore, VGK | 109 | (2-3-3-12-17) |
| 7. | Darnell Nurse, EDM | 76 | (0-3-3-10-10) |
| 8. | MacKenzie Weegar, FLA | 74 | (0-3-4-6-15) |
| 9. | Kris Letang, PIT | 60 | (1-3-3-2-8) |
| 10. | Jakob Chychrun, ARI | 50 | (1-0-3-5-10) |
| 11. | Devon Toews, COL | 12 | (0-0-1-2-1) |
| 12. | John Carlson, WSH | 6 | (0-0-0-2-0) |
| 13. | Jeff Petry, MTL | 5 | (0-0-0-1-2) |
| t-14. | Roman Josi, NSH | 4 | (0-0-0-1-1) |
| Jaccob Slavin, CAR | 4 | (0-0-0-1-1) | |
| 16. | Brett Pesce, CAR | 3 | (0-0-0-1-0) |
| t-17. | Adam Pelech, NYI | 1 | (0-0-0-0-1) |
| Ryan Pulock, NYI | 1 | (0-0-0-0-1) |
* Points allocation: 10-7-5-3-1 (1st-2nd-3rd-4th-5th)
Carlson also received votes for the NHL’s All-Star Team, finishing 13th among defensemen.
Carlson scored 44 points in 52 games, finishing fifth overall in scoring among NHL defensemen. His 10 goals marked the fourth consecutive season he hit double digits and his sixth in 11 full seasons. Carlson skated on the Capitals’ first pairing all season and averaged 23:46 of ice time per game, 19th among all NHL defensemen.
Carlson finished runner up to Josi last season in Norris Trophy voting after being a point-per-game for the first time in his career (75 points in 69 games). Carlson tied a career-high in goals (15) and hit 60 assists for the first time in his career.
Here’s the full press release from the NHL:
Rangers’ Adam Fox Wins James Norris Memorial Trophy
NEW YORK (June 29, 2021) – Adam Fox of the New York Rangers is the 2020-21 recipient of the James Norris Memorial Trophy, awarded “to the defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position,” as selected by the Professional Hockey Writers Association.
Fox was named on 99 of 100 ballots, including 40 first-place selections, for 743 voting points. Second-place Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche was the top choice of 31 voters in collecting 655 points, while third-place Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning garnered 22 first-place votes and 433 points.
Playing in his second NHL season, Fox ranked among the top defensemen in assists (1st; 42), points (2nd; 47), power-play assists (2nd; 21), takeaways (3rd; 38) and power-play points (3rd; 23) across 55 contests. Fox, who also placed seventh among all skaters in total time on ice (1,358:51) while recording a +19 rating, accumulated nearly half of his points during a 12-game streak from March 17 – April 8 (3-19—22), the fourth-longest by any player in 2020-21 and second-longest by a blueliner behind only Dougie Hamilton (14 GP w/ CAR).
The 23-year-old Jericho, N.Y., native was the Rangers’ first Norris Trophy finalist since 1996-97, when Brian Leetch won the award for the second time (also 1991-92 w/ NYR), and is the fourth player in franchise history to capture the trophy, after Leetch, Harry Howell (1966-67) and Doug Harvey (1961-62). He also is the second defenseman in League history to take home the award in his second NHL season (or earlier), after Bobby Orr accomplished the feat in 1967-68 (2nd NHL season w/ BOS).
Read More: – Vitek Vanecek finishes sixth in Calder Trophy voting after fantastic rookie season with Capitals
Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong/RMNB
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