<p>There may be no closer race this season than which blue-liner deserves to take home the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s Defenseman of the Year at the conclusion of the 2024-25 campaign.</p>



<p>On Monday’s episode of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6QQw3nW0wM">Daily Faceoff LIVE</a>, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk debated the three rearguards most deserving of the award, including Quinn Hughes of the <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/">Vancouver Canucks</a>, Cale Makar of the <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/teams/colorado-avalanche/line-combinations">Colorado Avalanche</a>, and Zach Werenski of the <a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/teams/columbus-blue-jackets/line-combinations">Columbus Blue Jackets</a>.</p>



<p><strong>Tyler Yaremchuk:</strong>&nbsp;I’ll start with this, maybe a little buy or sell for you. Is it a three-horse race or maybe even a two-horse race for the Norris?</p>



<p><strong>Frank Seravalli:</strong>&nbsp;It’s a three-horse race. I am really curious as we take a look at the candidates, who would you cross off this list when you ask that question, saying it’s a two-horse race?</p><div class="injected-ad injected-video" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="0" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="135"></div>



<p><strong>Tyler Yaremchuk:</strong>&nbsp;Here is the exercise I went through earlier today. You look at a guy like Zach Werenski, averaging 26:33, first in the NHL, leads his team in scoring, leads his team in game-winning goals. You look at everything that Quinn Hughes has done on that Canucks’ blueline and how important he is to Vancouver, and I go, ‘Well, those are the two guys.’ Then I sat then and said, ‘Well no, I am not voting on which defenseman is most important to his team. I am voting on who the best defenseman is. And Cale Makar is not as important to his team as Werenski is to Columbus and as Hughes is to Vancouver, but he might be the best defenseman. So when I first did this – and we are going to have an article go up at Daily Faceoff where a bunch of our writers and staff are voting on these awards – and I wrote out my awards for the first time, and Makar is No. 3, because it goes Hughes and then Werenski and then him. Then I went, ‘No, think of the definition of the award. It’s for best defenseman.’ And I think Cale Makar has been the best defenseman, but my mind is in a pretzel trying to decipher between these three.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="1" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="219"></div>



<p><strong>Frank Seravalli:</strong>&nbsp;My brain hurts after listening to you explain that. I am still not entirely sure what message you are trying to send. You are trying to tell me that you think Cale Makar is the best defenseman?</p>



<p><strong>Tyler Yaremchuk:</strong>&nbsp;I think so, but also he is the least important to his team.</p>



<p><strong>Frank Seravalli:</strong>&nbsp;But that’s not what the award is. That’s what the Hart Trophy is for. I think Werenski has a really strong case to be in that conversation. Werenski has had an unbelievable year. He has vaulted himself into the level beyond what he has been paid at. He has been really so good, the engine for that Blue Jackets team. That said, if I were casting a ballot today, it would be in the exact order it is on your screen, left to right, probably still Hughes, Makar, and Werenski. But the fact that Werenski is even in the conversation speaks to the season that he has had.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="2" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="161"></div>



<p>You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here:</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<div class="youtube-embed" data-video_id="J6QQw3nW0wM"><iframe loading="lazy" title="Deadline Objectives for the Eastern Conference | Daily Faceoff LIVE January 13th" width="696" height="392" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/J6QQw3nW0wM?feature=oembed&amp;enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>
</div></figure>
