Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski wins the Norris as Matthew Schaefer earnes some voites after a dominant rookie season.
On Wednesday, the NHL announced that Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski had won the Norris Trophy:
New York Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer, who took home the Calder Trophy as the league's best rookie, received three fourth-place votes and five fifth-place votes.
Getting Norris votes, at all, at 18 is an accomplishment.
Schaefer actually finished the 2025-26 season with one more goal than Werenski, with 23, but Werenski had the upper hand in assists, with 59 to Schaefer's 36.
Not everyone thought Schaefer would make the Islanders out of camp, and there's no one who could have expected him to have the rookie season we just got to witness.
He's only going to get better, and there's no question that a Norris Trophy is very much in his future.
Denis Potvin is the only Islanders defenseman to have ever won a Norris, taking home three: 1976, 1978, 1979.