NHL futures: Best bets for the 2027 Norris Trophy

Since the Norris Trophy was first presented to the NHL's top defenseman following the 1953-54 season, a total of 14 players have won the award multiple times. Bobby Orr captured the trophy a record eight times, while Doug Harvey and Nicklas Lidstrom both took it home on seven occasions.

Nine players have won at least three Norris Trophies. Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche already has two of them to his credit, and he hasn't even celebrated his 28th birthday yet.

Makar, who also earned the Conn Smythe Trophy during Colorado's run to the Stanley Cup championship four years ago, won the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie in 2019-20 and has been a finalist for the Norris every season since. He took home the award in 2022 and 2025, was runner-up in 2021 and 2026, and finished third the other two campaigns.

Assuming he remains healthy for the foreseeable future, it's probably a safe bet that Makar will complete the Norris hat trick before calling it a career. There's also a solid chance he can join Orr, Harvey, Lidstrom and Ray Bourque (five) as blue-liners with more than four trophies.

Makar dealt with injuries in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, which sidelined him for the first two games of the Western Conference Final and undoubtedly contributed to Colorado's four-game series loss. Some believed the apparent upper-body injury he sustained against the Minnesota Wild in the second round of the postseason may be significant enough to cause the defenseman to miss the beginning of the 2026-27 season, but Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic has stated that he expects everyone to be healthy and ready for training camp in September.

Even if Makar missed a bit of time early in the campaign, he almost certainly will be in the running for the 2027 Norris Trophy. Zach Werenski of the Columbus Blue Jackets also has to be in the conversation, as the 29-year-old is the reigning winner and was runner-up in 2025.

Minnesota's Quinn Hughes, who won the trophy in 2024 while with the Vancouver Canucks, and youngsters Lane Hutson of the Montreal Canadiens and Matthew Schaefer of the New York Islanders should receive some consideration as well. The 22-year-old Hutson and 18-year-old Schaefer respectively won the Calder Trophy the last two seasons, and the former finished ninth and sixth in the voting for the Norris in his first two campaigns.

Although the 2026-27 NHL season doesn't begin until Sept. 29, we'll take an early look at the best bets to win the Norris Trophy as the top defenseman in the league.

Who are the best bets to capture the Norris Trophy as the top defenseman during the 2026-27 NHL season? ... Join SportsLine right now to see Scott Erskine's picks, all from the expert who has covered the league and the sport of hockey for more than 20 years!