The Vezina Race Has a Weird Wrinkle Nobody Saw Coming
Three goalies. Only one still playing. The NHL announced the Vezina Trophy finalists on Tuesday and the story is way more interesting than a simple stats contest.
Jeremy Swayman, Ilya Sorokin, and Andrei Vasilevskiy are your finalists. Swayman is the only one with meaningful games left. Boston trails Buffalo 3-2 in their first-round series. He could win the Vezina and get eliminated on the same night. Let that sink in.
Vasilevskiy's Chasing Something Historic
Here's the thing: Vasilevskiy has been here before. Six times now he's been named a Vezina finalist, tying him with Martin Brodeur, Patrick Roy, and Dominik Hasek under the current format. That's company you don't want to be kept in unless you've earned it.
He went 39-15-4 this season with a 2.31 GAA and .912 save percentage in 58 games. The 39 wins led the NHL outright. Sixth time leading the league in wins across his career. No typo. From December 20 through February 25 he went 17-0-1 with a 1.90 GAA and .925 save percentage. Eighteen straight games earning points. That's not a heater. That's a Vladislav Tretiak impersonation.
The real kicker: the two-time defending champ isn't even in the conversation. Connor Hellebuyck won back-to-back in Winnipeg and got left off the ballot this time. The trophy is definitely leaving Manitoba. Vasilevskiy's the only guy in the field who's held this thing before.
Sorokin's Case Would Rewrite Vezina History
Sorokin posted a 2.68 GAA and .906 save percentage with 29 wins and led the entire NHL in shutouts with seven. He also led in high-danger saves (452) and high-danger save percentage (.864). The stats don't lie — his underlying numbers are as good as anyone's.
The problem? The Islanders missed the playoffs entirely. Sorokin's been carrying a team that couldn't score enough to matter, and his workload was brutal because of it. The last goalie to win the Vezina without making the postseason was Carey Price in 2014-15, and even Montreal qualified that year. A non-playoff goalie taking the trophy would be genuinely rare.
It gets stranger. If Sorokin wins, he'd be the first Islanders goalie to take the Vezina since Billy Smith in 1981-82. Smith's win came during New York's third straight Stanley Cup run. He won 32 games and backstopped a dynasty. Sorokin's situation couldn't be more different — he's trying to drag a .500 team into the picture through sheer goaltending will. The contrast almost writes itself.
Swayman's the Only One With Something to Play For
Last year Swayman posted a .892 save percentage and 3.11 GAA as the Bruins completely missed the playoffs. It was ugly. Boston brought him back, gave him a bigger workload, and he answered with 31 wins — a career high — and dragged the Bruins into the first wild card. His 38 starts with at least a .900 save percentage led the NHL. That's not a small thing.
He also won gold with Team USA at the 2025 IIHF World Championship between his rough season and this one. Sometimes you need a international reset. Swayman clearly did.
But Boston's one loss from going home. Buffalo's got them by the throat in this series. Swayman's the only finalist still active, and he's one bad night from watching the other two fight over the trophy from their couches. The Linus Ullmark era in Boston feels like a century ago — he was the last Bruins goalie to win the Vezina, back in 2022-23. Swayman's got a chance to end a different kind of drought.
What to Watch Tonight
Game 6 goes Wednesday at Buffalo. Swayman needs two wins to keep Boston's season alive and possibly shift the entire Vezina conversation. If Vasilevskiy takes the award, he'll join some of the all-time greats in that six-finalist club. If Sorokin wins, it might be the most unexpected Vezina winner in a generation.
The award itself doesn't get decided tonight — the finalists are named, the winner comes later. But if you're watching, keep an eye on Swayman. He's got the most to gain and the most to lose of anyone in that building.
The other two are watching from their couches. Swayman's not.