I guess I'm just old school. The Norris is supposed to go to the top defenseman, are we still allowed to say that, the top defenseperson. Carlson is good, no doubt. But, he's overpaid for his talent level and if he hadn't been scoring, a lot, he would not be a Norris contender.
I used to think this team needed a perennial Norris candidate on the team. But I think they'd be better off with several guys that are just under the Norris level. So they have more than one line that can defend, and to better fit under the salary cap.
Agreed. I think we argued this point to death (about what a Defensemen is) back when Maaco was around.
I like Johnny Q Norris alright (used to hate his marshmallow ass), and I thought his contract was ridiculous at the time, but did understand why they were forced to go with it. I really wanted to trade him when his value was high. His overall improvement argues that and now I don't regret the Caps keeping him. They got some return on an overindulgent investment for ONCE.
I'd say that's his contract doesn't look so bad now with these offensive numbers, but also think those numbers are a fluke. Lots of things make his number look better than they are...ahem....Ovie, Backy, Willy, etc, etc. THat and he really did improve his overall game the last several seasons. I really wonder who that is attributed to....Trotz? Reardon?
And he certainly did have a career year, but I think we've seen the absolute peak of the best of Johnny Q will ever be.
Please prove me wrong and bring those numbers again next year.
And FFS HIT somebody every now and then you big Palooka
