Karlsson preseason favorite for Norris Trophy

To mark the beginning of the 2018-19 regular season, NHL.com is running its first installment of the Trophy Tracker series this week. Today, we look at the race for the Norris Trophy.

A change of scenery could be just what Erik Karlsson needs to win the Norris Trophy for the third time.
Karlsson, who was traded to the San Jose Sharks from the Ottawa Senators on Sept. 13, has a chance to put up his best offensive numbers three seasons removed from scoring his NHL career-high of 82 points.
"What I love about Erik's game, everybody looks at the offense, but he's an exceptional defensive player too," coach Peter DeBoer told the Sharks website. "So I think you can use him in every situation. There's very few players in the world that I would term that you can use in the last minute of games when you're up or your down, to shut down the other teams' best players, to create offense when you're from behind. He's one of those guys. He has those type of tools."
Karlsson's all-around game is why he was selected as the preseason favorite to win the Norris Trophy, according to a panel of 18 NHL.com writers.

A two-time Norris winner (2011-12, 2014-15), Karlsson also was runner-up in 2015-16 and 2016-17. Even though last season was difficult -- he was minus-25 and his 62 points (nine goals, 53 assists) were his lowest total since 2010-11 (45) -- his new teammates know what he's capable of doing.
"The thing that just jumps out right away is his skating ability" Sharks captain Joe Pavelski said. "He's fast. He can get up in the play, he can lead rushes, he can get back, he's great with the puck, good shot, good vision. ... He makes all the plays and checks all the boxes."
Karlsson, who finished third in ice time per game last season (26:44), hasn't finished lower than fourth in the past six seasons. Since his rookie season in 2009-10, he has the most points (518) and power-play points (195) among defensemen.
"It's exciting for us to get those types of passes and those types of playmaking abilities back there because it's only going to create more offense for us," forward Evander Kane said. "He's a special player and he sees the ice real well back there"
Karlsson joins a defense in San Jose with Brent Burns, the 2016-17 Norris Trophy winner who also finished third in 2015-16 and is a perennial contender for the award.
"I think when you get to play with a guy who can skate like that, make plays, confident with the puck, it's great," Burns said.
Karlsson received 11 first-place votes to edge Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning, the 2017-18 Norris winner, who received five first-place votes.
Voting totals (points awarded on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis): Erik Karlsson, Sharks, 71 points (11 first-place votes); Victor Hedman, Lightning, 62 points (five first-place votes); Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings, 42 points (two first-place votes); Seth Jones, Columbus Blue Jackets, 17 points; P.K. Subban, Nashville Predators, 16 points; Roman Josi, Predators, 9 points; Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis Blues, 9 points; Brent Burns, Sharks, 9 points; John Carlson, Washington Capitals, 9 points; Ivan Provorov, Philadelphia Flyers 9 points; Dougie Hamilton, Carolina Hurricanes, 3 points; Shayne Gostisbehere, Flyers, 3 points; John Klingberg, Dallas Stars, 2 points; Dustin Byfuglien, Winnipeg Jets, 2 points; Kris Letang, Pittsburgh Penguins, 2 points; Charlie McAvoy, Boston Bruins, 2 points; Morgan Rielly, Toronto Maple Leafs, 2 points; Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Arizona Coyotes, 1 point.