When the Ottawa Senators traded former Norris Trophy-winner Erik Karlsson to the San Jose Sharks during the offseason many fans believed the club’s blue line would struggle offensively this season. That hasn’t been the case though. Yes, the defence corps may have a hard time in their own end most nights, but they’ve found an excellent replacement for Karlsson’s offensive skills in 21-year-old Thomas Chabot of Sainte-Marie, Quebec. As of December 10th, Chabot was leading all NHL defencemen in scoring with eight goals and 25 assists for 33 points in 31 games.
He’s on pace for over 20 goals and 85 points this season if he can keep it up and he’s also even in the plus/minus stats on a struggling team which was minus-17 overall. He’s been a huge surprise for the Senators and their fans considering he had played just 64 big league games prior to this season. He did show signs of things to come in those 64 games however with nine goals and 25 points in them. If Chabot should happen to reach the 90-point mark this season he’d become the first blue liner since 1993/94 to reach the milestone when hall of famer Ray Bourque achieved it.
Chabot was drafted by the Senators in 2015 with the 18th overall pick from Saint John of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He played junior hockey until the end of the 2016/17 campaign and posted 34 goals and 119 assists for 154 points in 202 regular-season contests with Saint John. He also chipped in with eight goals and 45 points in 40 playoff games, was a two-time All-Star, a playoff MVP and winner of the Defenceman of the Year Award in both the QMJHL and CHL as a youngster. He helped Saint John win a league championship in 2016/17 and earned an appearance in the Memorial Cup.
He also shone internationally in the 2016/17 World Junior Championships where he was named to the All-Star Team as well as being honoured with the MVP and Best Player Awards. He scored four goals and 10 points in seven outings as Canada finished fourth. The 6-foot-2-inch 195 lb rearguard then opened the 2017/18 campaign in the American Hockey League season with the Belleville Senators and posted two goals and seven points in 13 games before being called up by Ottawa for the remainder of the year.
But while Chabot has more or less been leading NHL defenceman in scoring for most of the current season, he may be an outsider when it comes to winning the James Norris Trophy as the league’s best blue liner. If he keeps the scoring pace up he should at least be one of the three finalists for the award, but he’s unlikely to win it. The main reason for this is the fact the Senators are likely to finish quite low in the league standings and miss the playoffs. If we look at the history of the Norris Trophy, which was first handed out for the 1953/54 season, we find not a single blue liner has won it while playing for a non-playoff squad.
The Senators started the season well, but have now fallen in the standings and also have to deal with injuries to two of their top forwards in Bobby Ryan and Matt Duchene. There’s also a possibility Duchene could be traded before the deadline since he’s a pending free agent at the end of the season. Of course, if Chabot is the top-scoring defenceman at the end of the season it’ll be almost impossible not to name him as a finalist for the Norris. He could also buck the trend and become the first rearguard in NHL history to win the award while not making the postseason. But the odds are he’ll have to reach break the 90-point barrier to do so.