Burns has driver’s seat in race for Norris
SAN JOSE >> As the Sharks rise in the Western Conference standings, a key member of their team has pulled ahead in his own race for a piece of significant hardware.
Brent Burns took the driver’s seat in the Norris Trophy race during the Sharks’ 4-0 trip through Western Canada, adding six points to a total that is tops among NHL defensemen.
The numbers speak for themselves. With 63 points in 57 games, Burns is on pace to become the first blue liner in 25 years to hit the 90-point mark, a feat last accomplished by Hall of Famer Ray Bourque in an era of wide-open scoring. In addition, Burns is on track to record 75 assists, a number that hasn’t been reached by a defenseman since Sergei Zubov racked up 77 helpers during the 1993-94 season.
But Burns’ emergence as the Norris Trophy frontrunner is less about numbers and more a reflection of how he has anchored the Sharks blue line during a season of fluctuation, which includes Erik Karlsson’s recent eight-game absence because of a lower-body injury.
At the end of the day, Karlsson’s injury could be the variable that tips the scale in Burns’ favor when writers vote for the league’s top
defenseman in April.
Keep in mind, Burns finished third in the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association’s midseason awards for a couple of reasons. Though Burns led NHL defensemen in scoring at the All-Star break, Mark Giordano of the Calgary Flames and Morgan Rielly of the Toronto Maple Leafs benefitted from playing in Canada, where you gain everyday exposure to a larger pool of writers.
Secondly, he likely lost some votes skating on a blue line with Karlsson, who accumulated 36 points in 29 games between Nov. 13 and Jan. 16, leading NHL defensemen in scoring during that span. The hot stretch included a run in which Karlsson picked up points in 14 straight games, scoring a goal while amassing 24 assists. In doing so, Karlsson became just the fifth defenseman in NHL history to earn assists in 14 straight games.
As a voter, it was hard to name Burns as the NHL’s best defenseman in the first half when his teammate was arguably even better.
But Karlsson’s injury alters the portrait significantly. At this point, you can break the Sharks’ season down into three segments: the adjustment phase; Karlsson’s run of dominance; and the post-injury period. Burns has been the constant variable on the Sharks blue line throughout. He delivered when the Sharks were adapting to a new style with Karlsson early in the season. He formed an unparalleled one-two punch with Karlsson once the affable Swede settled into his new home. Now, he’s leading the pack in Karlsson’s absence.
Burns helped lift the Sharks to victory in Winnipeg on Feb. 5, allowing his team to steal a road win in the Western Conference’s toughest barn by stripping the puck from Patrik Laine in overtime and hitting Joe Pavelski with a perfect cross-ice pass for the winner. Two nights later, he played a major role in the Sharks’ revenge win over the Calgary Flames, gobbling up three points and scoring a goal after he stole the puck from Sam Bennett, the villain who gave Burns’ defensive partner, Radim Simek, a concussion with a questionable hit on Dec. 31.
The Sharks are 7-2-1 in 10 games without Karlsson this season. In those games, Burns has scored three goals and picked up nine assists.
In the end, Giordano and Rielly will still garner a lot of attention playing on Canadian teams, but the Norris is now Burns’ trophy to win or lose.
• Auston Matthews’ $58 million contract extension with the Maple Leafs will be felt across the NHL, including San Jose.
Matthews’ decision to sign a deal with an $11.6 million average annual salary puts to rest the idea of an upcoming “Summer of the Offer Sheet.” With so many impactful restricted free agents set to hit the market this offseason, including Sharks power forward Timo Meier, many hockey pundits envisioned a summer of anarchy with clubs dishing out big-money offers in an effort to scoop up one of the difference-making players that are changing the face of the game.
But Matthews’ decision to sign for less than the $12.5 million annual average salary being earned by Connor McDavid takes the air out of this theory. The market’s ceiling is now set at $11.6 million.
If Matthews had allowed himself to reach the market, he might have received offers in the ballpark of $13 million or $14 million per year, triggering a trickledown effect across the NHL. It would have made it impossible for the Maple Leafs to sign both Matthews and Mitch Marner, putting another high-impact restricted free agent on the market.
This scenario offered the Sharks a potential Plan B in the event that Karlsson leaves as an unrestricted free agent this summer. Now, GM Doug Wilson’s choices will be more narrow, jacking up the stakes in his negotiations with Karlsson, the two-time Norris Trophy winner.
On the bright side, Meier’s next contract is becoming more affordable by the day. After scoring 18 goals in his first 30 games, Meier appeared to be on the verge of earning an extension in the ballpark of $6-8 million per year.
But with just two goals in his last 23 games, it’s hard to imagine that Meier will command more than the $5.625 million per year that Tomas Hertl is making after signing an extension with the club last summer. Hertl ranks second on the Sharks in goals (26) and points (53). Meier will need to catch fire down the stretch if he wants a deal north of $6 million per year this summer.
• Coach Pete DeBoer shared a Joe Thornton story last week. At a team dinner in Canada, DeBoer noticed how Thornton went out of his way to work Dylan Gambrell into conversations, making sure the 22-yearold rookie forward felt like part of the group.
We’ve all heard about Thornton’s work ethic, his fun personality, the accountability that he brings to the group. But this little window gives us a sliver of insight into why the culture in the Sharks dressing room is so strong.
Thornton knows how to bring a team together and it starts with the recognition that the 12th forward on the bench is just as important as the first.