I think Myers' hype was a bit higher than Makar. Makar had way more expectations coming into his rookie year, people had seen him in the playoffs the year before and knew what he could do at the NHL level. Myers went 12th in his draft but you can make an argument that it was one of the most loaded classes of all time for D prospects. When he was drafted he was seen as a bit of a project because of how gangly he was, needing to fill in, but his potential was completely untapped with his size and skating ability. He hadn't even broken out offensively when he was drafted, and there were questions about his decision making. He had a monster year the year after his draft year though where he completely broke out in all facets, and also won Gold at the WJC so his hype ramped up considerably going into his rookie year.I think your premise definitely makes some sense. There are a lot of good defenceman not listed in this poll.
I wasn’t on this board around Myers and Phaneuf’s rookie season. Was the hype around them similar to Hughes/Makar?
I think Myers' hype was a bit higher than Makar. Makar had way more expectations coming into his rookie year, people had seen him in the playoffs the year before and knew what he could do at the NHL level. Myers went 12th in his draft but you can make an argument that it was one of the most loaded classes of all time for D prospects. When he was drafted he was seen as a bit of a project because of how gangly he was, needing to fill in, but his potential was completely untapped with his size and skating ability. He hadn't even broken out offensively when he was drafted, and there were questions about his decision making. He had a monster year the year after his draft year though where he completely broke out in all facets, and also won Gold at the WJC so his hype ramped up considerably going into his rookie year.
I think what Myers did in his rookie year was seen as a lot more impressive than Makar. At 19 he became the Sabres #1 D-man right away in literally every situation and posted numbers that wouldn't have looked out of place for a Norris candidate (even though he finished 15th in voting that year). And they won their division that year with 100 points so it wasn't like it was a Chabot-like situation. You had Chara winning the Norris the year before so the thought was here's a guy that is the 2nd tallest player in the league, and unlike Chara he can absolutely fly, so what's his potential?
Phaneuf was much more hyped than all of them if you factor in what he did after his first few years. He was a top 10 pick, was able to consistently ramp up in Junior with the lockout, played on a legendary WJC team, and in an era after the lockout before analytics really became what they did, he was the easily the #1 young D in the league. Booming shot, tough as nails, and massive hits, people just loved his game. If you took a poll at the time for players you would most want to build around, he's probably there at #4 right after Crosby, Ovechkin and Malkin. People REALLY started to pick apart his game after his rookie contract though. It was a pretty steep fall.
I think what Myers did in his rookie year was seen as a lot more impressive than Makar. At 19 he became the Sabres #1 D-man right away in literally every situation and posted numbers that wouldn't have looked out of place for a Norris candidate (even though he finished 15th in voting that year).
I'll vote three. Plenty of players to start the decade who still have some prime left in them and finish the decade we won't know. Dougie Hamilton will have plenty of prime left and Carolina's defense hurting without him truly showed hockey fans his impact. Adam Fox, Miro Heiskanen, and Charlie McAvoy absolutely have Norris potential in them. So I will generously give three. The Norris is a tough award to win multiple times.
If one could show a strong defensive performance one could win. They still have a lot to grow.Given how the Norris voting usually goes it's very hard for a 50 pt D-man to challenge an 80 pt D-man. Heiskanen and McAvoy are not big scorers. Dahlin and Makar are big scorers. I could see 80 or maybe even 100 pts in their future. They absolutely should be expected to win many Norris trophies.
If one could show a strong defensive performance one could win. They still have a lot to grow.