Zach Werenski won the Norris Trophy Tuesday**, beating out Cale Makar and Rasmus Dahlen as the best NHL defenseman. Fourteen defensemen received votes. Jakob Chychrun received zero. That’s right, the defenseman who led all NHL defensemen with 26 goals didn’t even get a sniff. While Werenski is deserving of the award, it is a bit surprising that Chychrun didn’t get even a single vote after having the best season of his career, and one that more than matches up with the other vote getters.
Chychrun had a career year in 2024-25 after being traded to the Caps and was even better in 2025-26. He averaged 23:20 minutes per game of ice time. His skating and lethal shot from the point have made him vital to the Capitals at even strength and on the power play. He built on last year’s success and upped his point totals, which should have earned him a few more votes for the Norris this season, but it did not. Why not? I dove into the stats to see if there was something glaring that could explain it. What I found was surprising.
- Chychrun was the eleventh highest scoring defenseman last season with 60 points in 80 games while averaging 23:20 minutes per game.
- He was tied with Evan Bouchard for third in shots with 221, behind Werenski (260) Matthew Schaffer (221).
- He led the league with 8 game winning goals by a defenseman.
- He ranked second with 8 power play goals and twentieth in power play points with 18.
- He averaged .75 points per game, which ranked twenty-first.
- He had 18 even strength goals, tied for the best with Werenski.
- Chychrun averaged 23:20 minutes per game, good for twenty seventh in the league.
- He had 104 giveaways; seventeen defensemen had more, led by Werenski who had 125.
- Chychrun blocked 114 shots. Only Seider, Lane Hutson, Makar, Jake Sanderson, and Charlie McAvoy had more than Chychrun.
Nothing sticks out that would eliminate Chychrun from the conversation. The fourteen players that received votes were not markedly better. Chychrun’s numbers are more than comparable to those guys. If voters are weighing how valuable a candidate is to his team, then I could argue that Chychrun was pretty valuable since he scored the winning goal eight times last year. Werenski had two. Both the Capitals and the Blue Jackets missed the playoffs, so that wasn’t a factor. If the teams success was a major factor in Norris voting, then Cale Makar should have won. (He would have had my vote.)
I don’t think anyone expected Chychrun to win a Norris trophy this year, but it is surprising that he didn't even garner a single vote. He has elevated his game to a different level since he arrived in Washington and while I didn’t think Chychrun would win the Norris this year, he desreved a few as ecognition for his monster season. While Zack Werenski is a great player and deserved to win the Norris, to leave Chychrun completely off the ballot seems like a massive oversight.
