NEW YORK – Connor Hellebuyck, Tuukka Rask and Andrei Vasilevskiy were named finalists for the Vezina Trophy on Friday.
The award, voted on by NHL general managers, is given annually to the goalie voted the best at his position. The winner will be announced during the Conference Finals or before the Stanley Cup Final.
Hellebuyck played more than 50 games for the Winnipeg Jets for the fourth straight season and led the League with six shutouts. He also finished second in wins (31) and was seventh in save percentage (.922) among goalies to play at least 20 games. He was 31-21-5 with a 2.57 goals-against average when the NHL season was paused March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus. The runner-up for the Vezina Trophy in 2017-18, Hellebuyck would be the first goalie in Jets/Atlanta Thrashers history to win the award.
“I mean, he’s up for the Vezina. He’s got my vote,” Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey said. “He looks great on the ice here and his presence, his poise. He’s a calm guy, he’s never too high or too low, he’s very confident in his game. I think that radiates out through our whole team but definitely our blue line.”
Winnipeg (37-28-6, .563 points percentage) will enter the Stanley Cup Qualifiers as the No. 9 seed in the Western Conference and will play the No. 8 seed, the Calgary Flames (36-27-7, .564), in one of eight best-of-5 series. The winner will advance to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Rask finished the season 26-8-6 and, along with Jaroslav Halak, helped the Boston Bruins win the Jennings Trophy for allowing the fewest goals (167) in the NHL. He led the League with a 2.12 GAA, tied for second with five shutouts and was second in save percentage (.929) among goalies who played at least 20 games. He allowed two or fewer goals in 27 of 41 games and began the season with a 20-game point streak on home ice (14-0-6). Rask won the Vezina Trophy in 2013-14.
Boston (44-14-12, .714) will play in the round-robin portion of the Qualifiers in the Eastern Conference against the Tampa Bay Lightning (.657), Washington Capitals (.652), and Philadelphia Flyers (.645) to determine the top four seeds into the playoffs from the East.
Vasilevskiy (35-14-3) led the NHL in wins for the third straight season and had a 21-game point streak (19-0-2) from Dec. 17 to Feb. 15. He had a 2.56 GAA, .917 save percentage and three shutouts for the Lightning (43-21-6), who won at least 10 games in a row twice this season. Vasilevskiy won the Vezina last season and is a finalist for the third straight year. He could become the first to win it in consecutive seasons since Martin Brodeur did so with the New Jersey Devils in 2006-07 and 2007-08.
The 2020 NHL Awards were scheduled for June 18 in Las Vegas but were postponed March 25.
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