Josh Norris, one of the young prospects sent to the Ottawa Senators in the Erik Karlsson trade Thursday, is the son of St. John’s native and former hockey star Dwayne Norris.
The younger Norris was born in Michigan, where the family now resides. The 19-year-old was the 19th overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft. He had 23 points (eight goals, 15 assists) in 37 games as a University of Michigan freshman last season.
Norris was also a member of the U.S. team which won the bronze medal at the World Junior Hockey Championship last January in Buffalo.
Ottawa received forwards Chris Tierney and Rudolfs Balcers, along with defenceman Dylan DeMelo from the San Jose Sharks, in addition to the rights to the unsigned Norris, a first-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft or 2020 NHL Draft, a second-round pick in the 2019 draft, and two conditional draft picks.
Forward Francis Perron was also acquired by the Sharks.
Dwayne Norris played 20 games in the NHL with the Quebec Nordiques and Anaheim Mighty Ducks. But he’s best known for being part of the Canada’s silver-medal team at the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics, and for scoring the winning goal in the final game as Canada won the 1990 world junior hockey championship in Helsinki, Finland.
Following his North American pro career, Dwayne Norris spent 11 seasons in the German DEL.
He’s still involved with hockey, coaching and serving on the board of directors with the Oakland Grizzlies minor organization which plays out of Troy, Mich. He recently took over as director of hockey operations for Total Package Hockey in Detroit.
Norris has two other hockey-playing sons. Coale played his freshman season at Ferris State University last year, while Dalton is preparing to play for the Grizzlies’ U18 team.
