St. Louis Blues: Five Potential 2018-19 NHL Award Winners

Norris Trophy: Alex Pietrangelo

The Norris Trophy seems a little far fetched, but only for those with short memories. Before the team and the player took a brief nosedive in the winter of 2017-18, Alex Pietrangelo was actually one of the frontrunners for the award.

It’s odd how a player’s surroundings can alter perception. In some cases, we think too highly of someone we see day in and out.

The opposite is almost true with Pietrangelo. We almost devalue his contributions because we see any and all mistakes and think other defensemen are not doing those things.

There is a strange grass is always greener on the other side when it comes to Pietrangelo. Not coincidentally, the perception shift seemed to come when he was named captain.

Regardless, Pietrangelo is more than a worthy candidate for best defenseman if he’s healthy and at the top of his game. He has been building toward that upper tier. If he finds the consistency to play a full season like he can play during spurts, there is little reason voters might not pick him.

Beyond Pietrangelo’s own talents, we have to look at the competition. While there are several good defensemen out there these days, the Norris is not held hostage like it was in the 2000’s when Nick Lidstrom had a strangle-hold on the thing.

After Lidstrom won it a mind-boggling seven times in 10 years, nobody has won it twice in a row and only Erik Karlsson has won it twice overall. So, it is wide open for Pietrangelo to step into that list