When the NHL did their European player tour over the summer, Dallas Stars defenseman Miro Heiksanen served notice: he’s coming for the title of best defenseman in the league. “[The Norris Trophy is] one thing I really want to win,” he told NHL.com’s Dan Rosen. “I want to be the best defenseman in the NHL.”
As the Stars got training camp under way for the 2023-24 season, he was asked about that quote and how the reaction has been to it. While he didn’t opine on if anyone has said anything to him about making the public claim that he’s in the hunt for the Norris Trophy, given to the top defenseman in the league each year as voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association, he stood squarely behind what he said earlier this summer.