Evan Bouchard snubbed for the Norris: Oilers take a swipe at voters

Raphael Simard
Evan Bouchard snubbed for the Norris: Oilers take a swipe at voters
Credit: X

Earlier today, the three Norris Trophy finalists were announced.

Lane Hutson was snubbed, but the same goes for Evan Bouchard (95), who finished first among NHL defensemen in points.

He finished with 14 more points than his closest competitor, Zach Werenski (81). Many people are frustrated that he was overlooked, including the Oilers, who took a jab at the Professional Hockey Writers' Association, aka the voters for various individual awards.

In the Oilers' post, we can see some great defensive plays by Bouchard. Because even the organization knows that it's for his play in his own zone that he was overlooked.

The Norris is the most controversial trophy. The award's description is clear: it's given to the best defenseman over 200 feet. With his terrible defensive play, the Oilers' right-hander clearly wasn't going to be a candidate.

Some would like to see two trophies for defensemen: one for the best offensive defenseman and one for the best defensive defenseman. But in that case, the all-around players would be penalized.

So it's not a good idea.

The winner among Rasmus Dahlin, Werenski, and Cale Makar will be revealed later in the playoffs. We'll also find out how many top-3 votes Hutson and Bouchard received.


In a nutshell

– Big win.

– Is that even a thing?

– I can't wait.

– Oh really?

– Stay tuned.

facebook icon Share twitter icon Tweet linkedin icon Share
Copied!