Wings' Moritz Seider earns first Norris Trophy votes from NHL insiders

He's never received a Norris Trophy vote as the NHL's best defenseman in his first four years with the Detroit Red Wings, but this year will be different for Moritz Seider.

NHL insider Elliotte Friedman said Seider is one of his top five candidates to win the award, which is voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association (PHWA).

Writers rank five defensemen on a 10–7–5–3–1 point system. The deadline for voting was Friday at 5 p.m.

More: In best season, Red Wings' Moritz Seider showing shades of Nicklas Lidstrom

"He's (Seider) in my top five even though he didn't make the playoffs," Friedman said on "32 Thoughts: The Podcast," released on Friday. "He's not going to be at the top, but when you watched him throughout the year, he's a really good player. He eats a ton of minutes, right-shot (defenseman) and he's everything that would excite you as a Red Wings fan or as a hockey fan."

Seider, 25, set career highs in goals (10), assists (50), points (60), plus minus (+15), penalty minutes (54), even-strength goals (7), power-play points (25) and ice time per game (25:40).

"As I looked deeper into his season the last few days, I don't want to say quietly but he had a really impressive, two-way type of season," Friedman said. "There are definitely going to be guys on some ballots and not on other people's ballots, which is gonna make us at times look like gigantic morons in this year's voting. There's just too many good candidates this year."

What do other NHL insiders say?

Ray Ferraro echoed Friedman's sentiments on the "The Ray & Dregs Hockey Podcast," recorded on Thursday.

The former NHL forward and ESPN/ABC color analyst said he "almost certainly" will have Seider on his ballot.

"I know it's not a career award, but he's never missed a game in his NHL career," Ferraro said. "He plays 25-26 minutes a night and nobody has more blocks or hits. He doesn't play easy minutes and he had a career high in points. He's got to be on the ballot."

How many Red Wings have won the Norris Trophy?

Three Red Wings have won a total of nine Norris Trophies, led by Nicklas Lidstrom with seven awards (2001–2003, 2006–2008, 2011).

The other winners were: Red Kelly (1954) and Paul Coffey (1995).