Toronto Maple Leafs: Morgan Rielly and Other Norris Candidates

TORONTO,ON - DECEMBER 6: Morgan Rielly #44 of the Toronto Maple Leafs skates with the puck against the Detroit Red Wings during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on December 6, 2018 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Red Wings defeated the Maple Leafs 5-4 in overtime. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /

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SAN JOSE, CA – MARCH 09: Brent Burns #88 of the San Jose Sharks skates with the puck against the St Louis Blues at SAP Center on March 9, 2019 in San Jose, California (Photo by Brandon Magnus/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Brent Burns

Burns has an incredible 73 points in 70 games, and is likely to set a career high this season. He is awesome.

Burns has a 56.57% possession rating, which is + 9% relative to his team. The Sharks have an insane 155 more shots for when Burns is on the ice than against.

If not for the fact that his team’s goalies are under .900 save % when he’s on the ice, he’d probably look even better. He’s a +17 regardless, but let’s say his goalie was putting up the .930% that Ron Hainsey is getting. That is why you should never trust this stat. If you did, you might think that Hainsey is somehow better defensively than Burns. He’s not. (Stats naturalhattrick.com)

The weirdest thing about Brent Burns is that he’s 35 and instead of declining, he just keeps getting better. He’s already got one Norris Trophy and there’s a really big chance that he gets a second one this year.

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