NHL Defensemen Call on the League and Gary Bettman to Make Major Change
Defensemen around the NHL believe a major change needs to take place in the league, and they're going public with it.
NHL Gets Called on the Make Major Change by Defensemen
A new article from The Athletic highlights how many defensemen, and others, in the NHL feel about the fact that there's no award for the best defensive defenseman in the league. Especially considering there's one for best defensive forward."
"That's really dated. That's something that should be on the table. There are so many defensive defensemen around the league that keep their whole team together, and they don't get enough recognition around the league." - Mattias Ekholm.
The only award available for specifically defensemen in the Norris Trophy, which is supposed to go to the blueliner "who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position." As anyone who watches the NHL regularly can tell you, the Norris always goes to the best offensive defenseman. Case in point: last year's winner Erik Karlsson.
NHL Defensemen Want a Major Change for the League
It's hard to disagree with anything any of these guys have said. This award is long overdue. As Ekholm said, it's "ludicrous" one doesn't already exist.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 25 | 116 ANSWERS NHL Defensemen Call on the League and Gary Bettman to Make Major Change Do you agree with the defensemen? | ||
| Yes | 85 | 73.3 % |
| No | 17 | 14.7 % |
| Not sure | 14 | 12.1 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
|
YESTERDAY
JUNE 6, 2026
| ||||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Mitch Marner | 3 | 1 | 4 | |
| Tomas Hertl | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jordan Staal | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Shea Theodore | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Sebastian Aho | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Brayden McNabb | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Taylor Hall | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jordan Martinook | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Andrei Svechnikov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jackson Blake | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jack Eichel | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Brett Howden | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Seth Jarvis | - | 1 | 1 | |
| William Karlsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Eric Robinson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jaccob Slavin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Logan Stankoven | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Frederik Andersen | - | - | - | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | - | - | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||