Cale Makar deserved all the Norris Trophy love he received

Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar was announced as the winner of the 2024-2025 Norris Trophy as the top defenseman in the National Hockey League.

It is the second season in Makar’s storybook career in which he’s earned the honor, having also won it in 2021-2022 when he helped lead the Avalanche to the Stanley Cup.

Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski finished in second place in the voting, while Vancouver Canucks star Quinn Hughes finished third after having his season abbreviated by injury.

On Wednesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and Insider and President of Hockey Content Frank Seravalli discussed Makar’s path to the award and what it means for his status among the league’s best defensemen of all time.

Tyler Yaremchuk: He becomes the 14th multi-Norris winner in NHL history. He grabbed 176 first-place votes. There was no surprise here. This was Cale Makar’s award basically from jump street this year.

Frank Seravalli: Well, not from jump street, because Quinn Hughes didn’t get hurt really until December, but Cale Makar is always in the running. That’s the truth. Cale Makar would have been in the running last year had he not missed 20 games. This is a guy that, I was at the first time he was awarded the Norris Trophy at the NHL Awards in Nashville. I can remember him accepting it, and I’m thinking to myself, “who the heck is gonna take this trophy off this guy over the next 10-year period of time?” This guy is the present and the future of the NHL. Not a shock, 176 out of 191 first-place votes. Zach Werenski had an unbelievable season, definitely a career year for him… well respected in his candidacy, but Cale Makar, well north of a point per game, and it’s not as if his game lacks on the defensive end.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…