Nashville Predators: Handing out player awards on the season so far

Norris Trophy

Finalists: Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis, Mattias Ekholm

Winner: Josi

This race is extremely close. It could go to either Josi or Ellis. Ekholm is having a bit of a down year given his high standards, but he’s still having a decent season. I gave the ever so slight nod to Josi for several reasons.

First of all, points matter. Yes, points aren’t everything for defensemen, but they sure aren’t nothing either. Ellis has 38 points this season while Josi has 65. Yes, 23 of Josi’s points have come on the power play, but still, he’s been the driving force of the Predators offense. How many defensemen can you honestly say that about?

Secondly, Josi has been one of the Predators’ best penalty killing defensemen. While it’s true Ellis has been marginally better there, Josi’s still been pretty darn good while playing shorthanded, so that’s worth noting.

Finally, Josi has played more games. That was probably the ultimate determining factor. Had Ellis not gotten injured, he might have won. But this isn’t an award of hypotheticals. It’s about what’s actually happened. So Josi gets the nod.

That said, if you wanted to give the award to Ellis, I’d have no meaningful objections. Ellis has noticeably better underlying numbers and though his 38 points don’t look great on paper, keep in mind he missed quite a few games due to injuries. His 0.78 points per game are just below Josi, who has 0.94 points per game.