Vasilevskiy Joins Elite Company with Second Career Vezina
The Tampa Bay Lightning again had one of the National Hockey League’s stingiest defenses, not only during this past regular season, but also in its seven-game playoff series against Montreal last month. And the heartbeat of that defense – again – was veteran goalkeeper Andrei Vasilevskiy.
“I thought that we did lots of good things defensively during the regular season and during the playoffs too,” Vasilevskiy said at a post-season press conference last month. “I think defensively we did a pretty good job.”
The remainder of the NHL concurred with “The Big Cat,” and honored him on Saturday with the league’s highest honor for his position.
Vasilevskiy was named the recipient of the 2025-26 Vezina Trophy.
The award marks the second Vezina Trophy of Vasilevskiy’s career and his first since the 2018-19 season. It comes after several years of remaining among the league’s elite goaltenders. He finished second in voting in both 2020-21 and 2024-25 and was third in 2017-18 and 2019-20.
This season represented Vasilevskiy’s sixth appearance as a Vezina finalist, placing him among rare company. Under the trophy’s current voting format, only Hall of Fame goaltenders Martin Brodeur, Patrick Roy, and Dominik Hasek have matched or exceeded that total.
Vasilevskiy received 17 first-place votes and appeared on 28 ballots, finishing with 114 points. He comfortably outpaced fellow finalists Ilya Sorokin of the New York Islanders, who earned 51 points, and Jeremy Swayman of the Boston Bruins, who finished with 46 points.
The 31-year-old Russian was instrumental in guiding Tampa Bay to its ninth consecutive playoff appearance, tying the longest active postseason streak in the NHL. Vasilevskiy led the league with 39 victories while posting a 39-15-4 record, a 2.31 goals-against average, a .912 save percentage, and two shutouts in 58 starts.
Vasilevskiy was particularly effective mid-season, between Dec. 20 and Feb. 25, when he posted a remarkable 17-0-1 record during an 18-game point streak.
His 39-win campaign also marked the ninth consecutive season he has reached the 30-win plateau, the second-longest such streak in NHL history behind Brodeur’s run of 12 straight seasons.
Vasilevskiy ranked among the league leaders in several statistical categories, including goals-against average, save percentage, saves, and minutes played. He also tied for the NHL lead with 35 games allowing two goals or fewer.
Speaking during Tampa Bay’s postseason media availability last month, Vasilevskiy credited the team’s defensive commitment for much of the club’s success.
“Obviously,” Vasilevskiy began, “there were ups and downs throughout (the season). Overall, I thought we were, as a team, we were great defensively in the playoffs.
“We were pretty good defensively (and) pretty consistent. We were more consistent pre-Olympic break than after that. Me, personally, I felt pretty good, actually, compared to the last two playoff (series).”
His continued strong play throughout the season, which has been emblematic of his storied career, ultimately earned Vasilevskiy another place among the NHL’s all-time goaltending greats.
Vasilevskiy has two years remaining on his contract with Tampa Bay at $9,500,000 annually.
