Roman Josi misses out on the award for best defenseman of the last NHL season. Instead, the Norris Trophy goes to Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks.
The vote, which was conducted by trade journalists, was clearly in Hughes' favor. The 24-year-old American received 1864 votes, while Josi received 1207. The Bern native, who scored 85 points for the Nashville Predators in the qualifying phase, was placed first a dozen times. Hughes, the top scorer among the defensemen with 92 points in 82 games, was ranked first no fewer than 172 times.
Josi was nominated for the best defenseman award for the third time. The Bern native won the James Norris Memorial Trophy in 2020 and was narrowly beaten by Cale Makar in 2022. The Canadian defenseman finished in 3rd place this year with 893 votes.
The most important award went to Canadian Nathan MacKinnon. The 28-year-old forward, who like Makar plays for the Colorado Avalanche, collected 140 points in qualifying and was named the most valuable player of the season.
