OTTAWA

Erik Karlsson can likely book a trip to the National Hockey League Awards in Las Vegas in June.

But if Los Angeles Kings general manager Dean Lombardi could cast a ballot for the Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenceman, he wouldn’t put a check mark beside the Senators captain’s name.

On the eve of the votes being cast, Lombardi stuck up for his defenceman — Drew Doughty. He was asked Tuesday why somebody should vote for Doughty.

“Not even close. All you’ve got to do is stay up and watch West Coast games, and you’ll know why, and I won’t even have to explain it to you … You know what the beauty of that position is? It’s the classic case where greatness is the subtleties,” Lombardi told the Southern California News Group.

“And that No. 1 defenceman, what makes him special? Unless you really understand the game and see some of the things he does, you have to study the game, not watch the game, and realize what he does is really special, and has nothing to do with highlights and the points and all of this stuff.”

Karlsson, who finished with a career-high 82 points this season, will almost certainly be a finalist for the Norris.

With the deadline set for Wednesday at 7 p.m. for voters from the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association to submit their ballots for the annual awards, it’s expected the battle for the league’s best blueliner is going to come down to Doughty and Karlsson.

Lombardi, however, fired a shot at Karlsson for the way he plays defensively and the fact the Senators missed the post-season this year.

“It’s not the highlight-film position,” said Lombardi. “It’s not supposed to be, and then we turned it (into one) because (of) Paul Coffey. I guess, he pulled it off. But at least Paul Coffey was in the playoffs. And this stuff that (Doughty) plays for a better team? How good do you think we are without him? How about the other way around?”