Top Norris Trophy winners debated by NHL.com

The Norris Trophy has been awarded to the NHL's best defenseman since 1954.

The names of the players that have won this award, which is selected in a poll of the Professional Hockey Writers Association at the end of the regular season, are legendary.

Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins won the Norris a record eight consecutive seasons (1968-75), and Doug Harvey of the Montreal Canadiens and Nicklas Lidstrom of the Detroit Red Wings each won it seven times.

In a continuing series of roundtables on the post-expansion era, we asked seven NHL.com writers for their opinion on which Norris Trophy performance since 1967-68 is the best:

RELATED: [All Norris Trophy winners | Top Conn Smythe Trophy winners debated by NHL.com]

Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins, 1970-71

It's Orr, no question. You could pick almost any of his eight Norris Trophy-winning seasons and call that one the best, but 1970-71 was truly one for the ages. He scored 139 points (37 goals, 102 assists) in 78 games. He led the NHL in assists and was second in scoring behind teammate Phil Esposito, who had 152 points (76 goals, 76 assists) in 78 games. Orr's plus-124 remains tops among all Norris Trophy winners, with only Robinson (plus-120, 1976-77) coming close. Sure, Orr's Bruins were stunned by the Canadiens in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but that doesn't diminish his magical season. -- William Douglas, staff writer

No defenseman in history had more assists (102) or points (139) in a single season than Orr did in 1970-71. He holds five of the top eight single-season point totals by a defenseman and this was his coup de grace. But Orr was about so much more than scoring. He finished the season at plus-124, an NHL record that stands to this day. When he was on the ice, he dominated in each end. This easily was the greatest single season by an NHL defenseman. The numbers say so, and so did the eye test.-- Mike Zeisberger, staff writer

Larry Robinson, Montreal Canadiens, 1976-77

Robinson was all-universe this season, which culminated in the second championship of the Canadiens' run of four consecutive Stanley Cup titles to close out the decade. A member of Montreal's vaunted Big Three on defense, with Serge Savard and Guy Lapointe, Robinson equaled his NHL career high for goals with 19, and had an NHL career-best 85 points, 66 assists and 196 shots. And if you weren't worried about his offensive threat, finishing the season at plus-120, you kept your head up unless you relished being run over by the freight train wearing No. 19, which was retired to the rafters of Bell Centre in 2007. -- Dave Stubbs, columnist

Brian Leetch, New York Rangers, 1991-92

Leetch was the epitome of power and grace. No NHL defenseman has scored at least 100 points since Leetch had 102 in 1991-92. He is one of five NHL defensemen to score 100 or more points in a season and led all defensemen in assists (80) and points-per-game (1.28) in 80 games, winning the Norris for the first of his two times. The other came in 1996-97, when he scored 78 points (20 goals, 58 assists) in 82 games. A 2009 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee, Leetch played 17 of his 18 seasons with the Rangers and finished with 1,028 points (247 goals, 781 assists) in 1,205 games.-- Mike G. Morreale, staff writer

Chris Pronger, St. Louis Blues, 1999-2000

Pronger became the second defenseman to win the Norris Trophy and the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player in the same season, joining Orr. No defenseman has been voted a finalist for the Hart since Pronger won it. The St. Louis Blues went 51-19-1 with 11 ties to win the Presidents' Trophy for finishing first in the League standings with 114 points, an improvement of 27 points from 1998-99. Pronger was second in the NHL among defensemen with 62 points (14 goals, 48 assists), behind Lidstrom (73), and led the League with a plus-52 rating and 30:14 of ice time per game. -- Tom Gulitti, staff writer

Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings, 2001-02

The depth and breadth of Lidstrom's NHL career is a marvel, and I believe his second Norris Trophy win is the high-water mark that can match his revered seventh. Lidstrom won a personal triple crown in 2001-02, taking the Norris, the Stanley Cup and the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. At age 31, he was in the lengthy prime of his 20-season career and already well-known for his ability to be the most efficient player in the game. He could play big and bigger minutes and still maintain peak effectiveness against the opposition's best. There's no better example than that season, when Lidstrom had 59 points (nine goals, 50 assists) in 78 games, playing 28:49 per game, then having 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) in 23 postseason games, playing 31:10 per game.-- Tim Campbell, staff writer

Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings, 2010-11

Lidstrom was 40 years old when he won the Norris Trophy for the seventh time in 2010-11. And it wasn't like it was a career achievement award, either. He was second among NHL defensemen that season with 62 points. You know how many NHL defensemen have scored at least 40 points after age 40? Nicklas Lidstrom in 2010-11. That's it. He also tied for fourth with 16 goals and averaged 23:28 of ice time in 82 games. Oh, and how many defensemen have averaged 20-plus minutes while playing 82 games at age 40? Yup, just Lidstrom. No other defenseman at that age has been that productive and that durable. Teammates and coaches nicknamed Lidstrom ''the perfect human,'' but seasons like the one he had in 2010-11 took it to another level. -- Adam Kimelman, deputy managing editor