Rielly leads Norris Trophy race at midseason

To mark the midway point of the season, NHL.com is running its third installment of the Trophy Tracker series this week. Today, we look at the race for the Norris Trophy, given annually to the best defenseman in the NHL as selected in a Professional Hockey Writers Association poll.

Morgan Rielly is a big reason the Toronto Maple Leafs have been one of the top teams in the NHL this season, and he could be rewarded with the Norris Trophy as the top defenseman in the NHL as a result.
The 24-year-old began the season with 12 points (three goals, nine assists) in the first five games, surpassing Bobby Orr's NHL record for most points by a defenseman in the first five games of a season (11), set with the Boston Bruins in 1973-74.
He's been on a tear ever since.
Rielly's 13 goals rank first among NHL defensemen, and his 45 points are second to Brent Burns of the San Jose Sharks (47).
But it hasn't been just Rielly's offense that's improved this season. He's plus-26, tied for third in the NHL with Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin behind Calgary Flames forward Elias Lindholm (plus-27) and Calgary defenseman Mark Giordano (plus-30), after he had a negative rating each of his first five NHL seasons.
"It's important that over time, you look at yourself and look at the player you want to be and take steps to try to get there," he said. "It's a long road, a long process, so I've got a long way to go to get to where I want to be."

Because of Rielly's offensive prowess and commitment to defense, he was chosen by a panel of 20 NHL.com writers to win the Norris Trophy at the midway point of the season. He received 77 points, including 11 first-place votes, edging Giordano, who had 73 points and six first-place votes. Seth Jones of the Columbus Blue Jackets (two) and Roman Josi of the Nashville Predators (one) received the other first-place votes.
"He's still learning, playing defense is a lot harder than playing wing in the National (Hockey) League, takes more time," Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said of Rielly. "Just the idea of boxing out and facing the puck, and knowing when to go and when to stay home. He's done a real good job, and obviously he's an elite player for us."
Rielly, who is averaging 22:27 of ice time per game, leads the Maple Leafs in total ice time (942:50) and power-play ice time among defensemen (2:39 per game). He is often matched against the opponent's best players, and his plus-minus rating is an indicator of his success against them.
"He's coming obviously, he keeps getting better, he's still a kid," Babcock said. "It's hard to be real consistent and real good defensively and offensively every night in the National League when you're a kid on the back end."
Toronto is 10-2-0 when Rielly scores a goal this season. He is on pace to break the Maple Leafs record for points in a season by a defenseman (Ian Turnbull had 79 in 1976-77) and could be the first Toronto player to win the Norris Trophy.
Rielly said he doesn't think he's reached his full potential yet.
"I feel like I've got room to get better," he said. "It's not just me, I know there's other guys that feel that way. So moving forward in the last half of the year, we all feel like we can get better and be more consistent as a team."
Voting totals (points awarded on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis):Morgan Rielly, Maple Leafs, 77 points (11 first-place votes); Mark Giordano, Flames, 73 points (six first-place votes); John Carlson, Washington Capitals, 42 points; Seth Jones, Blue Jackets; 22 points (two first-place votes); Brent Burns, Sharks, 22 points; Kris Letang, Pittsburgh Penguins, 21 points; Roman Josi, Predators, 11 points (one first-place vote); Thomas Chabot, Ottawa Senators, 10 points; Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning, 10 points; Ryan McDonagh, Lightning, 5 points; Ryan Suter, Minnesota Wild, 2 points; Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings, 2 points; Erik Karlsson, Sharks, 2 points; Rasmus Ristolainen, Buffalo Sabres, 1 point
NHL.com correspondent Dave McCarthy contributed to this story