Victor Hedman, a relentless part of the Lightning's push to the Eastern Conference final, was honored Wednesday night with the Norris Trophy, given to the NHL's top defenseman.
"To the Lightning organization, Mr. Jeff Vinik, Steve Yzerman and the coaching staff, thank you for believing in me and putting me in a position to succeed," Hedman said in accepting the award. "To my teammates, obviously I love you guys and I wouldn't be here without you. To the Tampa Bay community and Lightning fans, you guys are the best and thanks for all your support throughout nine years."
Hedman, 27, is the first Lightning player to win the award, giving him one of the top league-wide player honors in team history. Perhaps the only larger hardware would be Martin St. Louis winning the Hart Trophy in 2003-04 as the league's MVP during the Lightning's Stanley Cup championship season.
Hedman was recognized at the NHL's annual awards ceremony in Las Vegas. The Lightning was up for two other major awards, as Andrei Vasilevskiy was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy as the league's top goalie, and general manager Steve Yzerman was a finalist for GM of the Year. Yzerman won the GM honor after the 2014-15 season.
Reliable on defense and dangerous as an offensive threat, Hedman reset his career high with 17 goals this past season, matching the most for any NHL defenseman. His plus-minus of +32 reset his career best, having entered 2017-18 a combined +33 in his first eight NHL seasons.
Hedman, who was signed to an eight-year, $63-million extension in 2016, was a finalist for the Norris last season and finished third in the voting, which was won by San Jose's Brent Burns.
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