Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings, Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning and P.K. Subban of the Nashville Predators have been named the three finalists for the Norris Trophy, awarded to the league's best defenceman.

Here is a look at the three finalists:

Victor Hedman – Tampa Bay Lightning

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Goals: 17 Assists: 46 Plus-minus: +32 Time on ice per game: 25:51

Last year, Victor Hedman finished third in Norris Trophy voting behind Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson. This time around, it might be his time to shine.

Hedman was near the top of the NHL in almost every statistical category among defenceman. The former No. 2 overall pick had a career-high 17 goals and 46 assists to rank sixth among blueliners in points. He was a career-best plus-32, which ranked second for defenceman, and fifth in power-play points with 26. The 27-year-old also had 25:51 of ice time per game, which ranked fourth in the league.

Hedman’s production helped the Tampa Bay Lightning return to the Stanley Cup playoffs for the fourth time in five years and set a franchise record with 113 points.

“We have some elite players on this team, but on the back end, he’s our rock back there,” Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. “He can help dictate the play of how we’re doing things.”

 

Drew Doughty – Los Angeles Kings

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Goals: 10 Assists: 50 Plus-minus: +23 Ice time per game: 26:50

Los Angeles Kings defenceman Drew Doughty won the award in 2015-16, is a three-time finalist and has finished in the top 10 in voting each of the past five seasons.

But 2017-18 may have been Doughty’s best season. He set a career-high in assists (50) and points (60) and led the NHL in ice time per game for the third time in four seasons with 26:50.

Doughty’s durability has been one of his strong suits throughout his career. He has played in all 82 games in four straight seasons and has missed just 16 games over 10 years in the NHL.

“He probably takes a lot of hits and a lot more things that some other guys do. For a guy to be able to play that much and be in the lineup every night, that means he’s playing through things at time, and he’s laying it on the line. I have a lot of respect for players like that,” Minnesota Wild forward Eric Staal said.

 

P.K. Subban – Nashville Predators

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Goals: 16 Assists: 43 Plus-minus: +18 Ice time per game: 24:07

The Nashville Predators gave up the second fewest goals in the NHL this season, second only to the Los Angeles Kings. While much of that has to do with Vezina Trophy hopeful Pekka Rinne, P.K. Subban can’t be overlooked. He often kept the opposition’s most dangerous forwards from scoring areas and took on his fair share of responsibility in his own zone.

“I take pride in the defensive part of my game… That’s what ultimately won me a job in the NHL,” Subban said. “It wasn’t my offence. I take pride in that, and I just hope that continues. I think people would sound pretty foolish if they continued to try to say that I can’t play defensively.”

With a strong season at both ends of the ice, Subban has once again thrown his name in the hat for the Norris, an award he won in 2012-13 as a member of the Montreal Canadiens.

Subban scored a career-high 16 goals and his 44 primary points – goals and assists the directly lead to a goal – were the most in the NHL among defencemen.