George Richards, FHN Publisher
Let’s get this out of the way right now: Panthers defenseman MacKenzie Weegar is not winning the Norris Trophy this season.
Weegar may not even finish in the top five of voting.
The fact that it is even being brought up as a possibility just shows what kind of a player Weegar has evolved into.
If Weegar is not an elite NHL defenseman yet, he certainly is close.
And, depending who you ask, he may be on that plane right now.
“He had a heck of a year in all aspects of his game,” Joel Quenneville said of Weegar. “His defending, joining the attack, patience, play recognition … his possesson was high-end.”
“Whether it was playing with Ek or with Fors against those matchups, he handled that extremely well. His consistency went up to a new level, his playmaking, you name it. He had an outstanding year. He went to a different level as a defenseman and what he contributed to our team.
“You can start looking at him at a different level. Time will tell. Certainly he took a big step and you see a lot of progress.”
The Norris Trophy goes to the NHL’s top defenseman and is voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association. Recent winners have included Roman Josi, Mark Giordano and Victor Hedman — whom the Panthers will be seeing starting Sunday.
Wrote Eric Duhatschek of The Athletic: “Maybe the most underrated defensive performance of the year belonged to MacKenize Weegar in Florida. It’ll be interesting to see if he gets any courtesy votes at the bottom of someone’s ballot.”
Had Aaron Ekblad not fractured his leg in a game at Dallas on March 28, he most certainly would be heading this conversation.
Ekblad, with the season he was having, may have won it.
Perhaps Weegar’s ascent was overshadowed by the play of Ekblad. That certainly seems to be the case.
As good a tandem as Ekblad and Weegar have been, it was Ekblad who — deservedly so, we should add — got the credit.
Once Ekblad went out, Weegar slid over to the right side and Gus Forsling came up to the top pairing.
Ekblad is irreplaceable, but the play of Weegar and Forsling has definitely made things easier on the Panthers.
And that is why we’re having this conversation.
“You can’t replace that type of player,’’ Sasha Barkov said last month. “All you can do is step up your own game. All the defensemen did, the forwards did and especially Weegs did.”
Check out the numbers (mostly per NaturalStatTrick.com):
— When it comes to scoring, Weegar (36 points) is ranked 11th among all defensemen.
But in 5-on-5 play, his 24 points are just two behind South Florida’s Jakob Chychrun.
Weegar does not get the power play time other defensemen on the Panthers do.
Keith Yandle quarterback’s the top unit and Ekblad’s offensive game was definitely helped by being promoted to the top five this season.
Even with Ekblad out, Weegar has only seen his power play time go up marginally. Former coach Bob Boughner gave Weegar a taste on the power play a few years back but he hasn’t had much since.
This year, Weegar got 23:40 of power play time which is the highest of his career; Boughner gave him 22:57 in 2017-18. Weegar got just over 11 minutes last season.
More power play time would likely enhance his offensive stats and give him more of a look when it comes to Norris talk.
Of his 36 points, only three are off the power play.
— Weegar has drawn nine penalties which ranks ninth; he has taken 10 which is 40th.
— While Weegar’s 40 giveaways rank 20th in the league, his 33 takeaways are No. 1.
“I have just been trying to feed off my teammates and I think everyone has had a great year,” Weegar said.
“It has been a collective team effort. I started off great with Ekblad, he was having a great year as well. You know that obviously helped. When he went down, I took it upon myself to step up and Forsling has been awesome too and we have a lot of chemistry. Everyone around me has stepped up and I stepped up as well.”
When you look at his defensive numbers, and how much better Florida is with him on the ice, there is no doubt Weegar’s star continues to be on the rise.
PANTHERS FOUND A GEM
Not bad for a guy who almost did not get drafted.
Had the Panthers not traded back into the 2013 draft — the one in which they took Barkov second overall — Weegar may not have been selected.
As it was, he was the No. 206 pick in the 211 player draft.
A lot of teams screwed that one up.
Still, it gave him a pretty cool draft story. And a bit of a chip on his shoulder.
“We had been there four hours already,” Weegar recalled of his draft day in Newark last summer. “It was time to go. There were only five or six picks left. It just wasn’t going to happen.”
Then an announcement came from the podium: The Panthers, who did not have a pick in that seventh round, had traded back into the draft by making a deal with Montreal.
“I said, ‘wait a second.’ I figured that, right there, was my last chance,” Weegar said.
He’s certainly made the most of that chance with the Panthers.
So, what’s it like being considered a ‘dark horse’ Norris candidate?
“I do keep up on it, I know there are a lot of great defensemen around the league and to just be mentioned with them is a great honor,” Weegar said.
“Who knows what will happen? I’ll take a ‘dark horse.’ That’s usually where I am anyway. It’s all good.”