When San Jose used their first round selection this year on Josh Norris, the pick elicited massive groans, skeptical comparisons, and a lot of head-scratching. San Jose had passed on dynamos like Kailer Yamamoto and Kristian Vesalainen for the big, safe, defensively responsible center who compared himself to Tyler Bozak. In other words, it seemed like a typical Doug Wilson pick. What’s often underestimated is just how smart a lot of Wilson picks tend to be, especially of late.
Norris put up 61 points in as many games with the National U-18 team to go with 26 in 25 with the USNTDP juniors, but what initially looked to be a subpar season based upon counting numbers was quickly dispelled by the eye test and a deeper dive into his season.