When Paul Martin was signed by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2010 off-season, they were hoping he would be able to come in and fill the void by taking Sergei Gonchar's role when he left the team to sign with the Ottawa Senators.
Statistically speaking, Martin has been doing fine. However, Martin would find himself playing inconsistently, constantly turning the puck over, and was not adjusting well to Pittsburgh's system as anticipated. This made General Mangaer Ray Shero ask Martin during last year's offseason if he would like out of Pittsburgh and be traded. Martin however, simply declined.
Martin had told Shero that he wanted to prove he belonged in Pittsburgh and knew he needed to step his game up and wanted to redeem himself by working hard to improve his it. Martin appears to be making good on his word as he has improved his overall play significantly and to date has four goals on the season. The first time he has done so since the 08'-09' campaign when he finished with five. Add the fact that he is doing this in an already shortened season, Martin has finally played up to his potential and is already being talked about as a Norris Trophy Candidate (Best all around Defenseman)
While some may say it is a longshot, Paul Martin has earned to be at the very least a candidate or a name brought up for the Norris Trophy. Martin does have some stiff competition, including teammate Kris Letang. Martin's success has not gone unnoticed as he has gained the attention of many. If he can continue at this level of play, Martin could very well be taking home some hardware this season!
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