Goaltending can make all the difference in hockey. If you have a goalie in the Vezina conversation, chances are you’re sitting in a playoff spot and close to the top of the league standings. This season’s Vezina chase has a runaway favorite in Connor Hellebuyck, but who else is in the conversation to be a finalist for 2024-25?
6. Logan Thompson
The Washington Capitals have been one of the biggest surprises in the NHL this season, and goaltending is a significant reason for that. Logan Thompson has been outstanding, compiling an 18-2-3 record and a .919 save percentage through 23 appearances. His underlying numbers have been fantastic as well.
Related: 2024-25 Calder Trophy Tracker: First Edition
Thompson has saved 19.8 goals above expected, ranked second in the NHL to Hellebuyck, and he has a five-on-five SV% of .930. It’ll come down to games played for Thompson since the Capitals split starts 50/50 between him and Charlie Lindgren. That’s why I have him sixth, but he could rise up the rankings through the second half of the season if he ends up playing in 50-plus games and maintains these impressive numbers.
5. Mackenzie Blackwood
This might be a tough sell, but Mackenzie Blackwood has been outstanding since getting traded to the Colorado Avalanche. He has a .939 SV% across 11 appearances with the Avalanche, but it’s not like he played poorly with the San Jose Sharks before the trade; he posted a .909 SV% with the Sharks.
Between both teams, Blackwood is up to a .919 SV% for the season. He’s saved 15.5 goals above expected, ranked fourth league-wide, and has a five-on-five SV% of .918. He’s been excellent and has seemingly solved the Avalanche’s goaltending concerns. He’s appeared in 30 games between both teams, so he should log enough starts to be in the Vezina conversation, assuming he stays healthy.
4. Andrei Vasilevskiy
Andrei Vasilevskiy is back after struggling during the 2023-24 season when he posted a .900 SV%. Through 32 games this season, he’s totaled a .914 SV% while saving 6.2 goals above expected. Most importantly, he has a quality start percentage of .625, which is quite good.
The Tampa Bay Lightning are not the wagon they used to be, so they need high-end goaltending from Vasilevskiy. His backup is Jonas Johansson, so the Lightning will likely lean on Vasilevskiy the rest of the way since Johansson is very hit-or-miss when the Lightning call on him to make a start.
3. Jacob Markström
Jacob Markström got off to a slow start with the New Jersey Devils, but he’s been lights out for close to two months now. He’s 21-8-3 and has compiled a .911 SV%, and many of his underlying numbers are fantastic.
Markström has saved 12.5 goals above expected, ranked eighth league-wide. He has a high-danger SV% of .894 and a five-on-five SV% of .917. The Devils have been leaning on him heavily lately, and it’s easy to see why. He’s 16-5-2 since Nov. 1 and has a .915 SV% across that stretch. Given how often the Devils use him, he should be in the mix to be a Vezina finalist at season’s end. He’s been exactly what they hoped for when they acquired him this offseason.
2. Filip Gustavsson
Like the Capitals, the Minnesota Wild have been one of the biggest surprises of 2024-25. And like the Capitals again, goaltending is a significant reason they’ve surged to the top of the Central Division standings. While Marc-Andre Fleury still plays often enough, Filip Gustavsson has led the way. He struggled a season ago, but he’s having quite the rebound year and looks closer to the goalie he was during the 2022-23 campaign.
Gustavsson is 18-8-3 and has a .917 SV% across 30 appearances. He’s saved 14.8 goals above expected, ranked fifth league-wide, trailing Hellebuyck, Thompson, Lukas Dostal and Blackwood. He has an outstanding five-on-five SV% of .933, so all the numbers suggest he could be a Vezina finalist.
1. Connor Hellebuyck
If there was any doubt, Hellebuyck is the runaway favorite to win the Vezina Trophy. He’s 26-6-2 across 34 games played and has a ridiculous .928 SV% while saving an outrageous 27 goals above expected. For context’s sake, Thompson is nearly a full eight goals saved above expected behind Hellebuyck.
In an era of goaltending where the league-average save percentage sits below .900, Hellebuyck posting these numbers is borderline insane. It will take a lot to supplant him as the favorite for the Vezina, and he’s been so good that don’t be surprised if voters give him some consideration for the Hart Trophy.
Hellebuyck’s Award to Lose
Other goalies who could gain traction in the Vezina race are Jake Oettinger, Linus Ullmark and Anthony Stolarz. Oettinger has been solid this season, posting a .910 SV% while saving 4.3 goals above expected, but he has not been as good as the previously mentioned netminders. He’ll have to kick it up a notch during the second half of the season.
Stolarz and Ullmark have been outstanding, but injuries have hurt their Vezina bids. If they return to action in the next week or two, they could get back into the conversation. But they may have already missed too much time to be Vezina finalists. Otherwise, it’s already Hellebuyck’s trophy to lose.
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