The NHL revealed the final three goaltenders who can win the Vezina Trophy.
The finalists for the award, going “to the goalkeeper adjudged to be the best at this position,” are the Winnipeg Jets’ Connor Hellebuyck, Tampa Bay Lightning’s Andrei Vasilevskiy and Los Angeles Kings’ Darcy Kuemper. The three netminders are all competing in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
GMs of all 32 NHL teams vote for this award.
Hellebuyck and Vasilevskiy won the award before. Hellebuyck earned the honor in 2020 and 2024, meaning he could win the Vezina in back-to-back years for the first time since Martin Brodeur did so in 2007 and 2008. Vasilevskiy won the Vezina Trophy in 2019.
Kuemper has never won the award, but he did finish fifth in voting in 2018-19 and seventh in 2019-20 when he played for the now-inactive Arizona Coyotes.
Hellebuyck is the favorite to win this award, leading in nearly every goaltending stat throughout the regular season. He finished the 2024-25 campaign with the best goals-against average (2.00) and the most shutouts (eight) among goalies who played at least 25 games.
He finished second in the league in save percentage with a .925 SP, just behind Toronto Maple Leafs netminder Anthony Stolarz, who recorded a .926 SP.
Hellebuyck also won his second straight William M. Jennings Trophy as the goaltender who allowed the fewest goals against among goaltenders with at least 25 appearances.
Bruce Boudreau Believes The Jets Are The Real Deal, Rooting For Them To Win The Stanley CupThe Winnipeg Jets entered the playoffs with the best regular-season record (56-22-4), winning the Presidents’ Trophy and looking utterly dominant in front of Hart Trophy Candidate, Connor Hellebuyck. Despite that, many fans and analysts still do not believe the Jets can win the Stanley Cup.
Vasilevskiy drastically improved from last season, when he posted a .900 save percentage and a 2.90 goals-against average. This season, he recorded a .921 SP with a 2.18 GAA while playing 11 more games.
Early last season, he required surgery to address a lumbar disk herniation, and it affected his performance for the Lightning. However, he’s now a Vezina Trophy finalist for the fifth time in his 11-year career.
As for Kuemper, the Kings have never had a Vezina Trophy winner in franchise history. They were close in 2011-12 and 2015-16 when Jonathan Quick was the runner-up for the award.
Kuemper has the opportunity to be the first King to claim the Vezina, while having one of the best seasons of his career at 34 years old.
The Kings’ netminder finished the regular season with a 31-11-7 record and was a key component for the team earning a second-place spot in the Pacific Division. He recorded the most wins in a season for Los Angeles since Quick’s 33 in 2017-18.
He was steady all year for his team, posting a 2.02 GAA and a .922 SP. Last season, with the Washington Capitals, Kuemper recorded a 3.31 GAA and a .890 SP, so the former Stanley Cup champion really bounced back this year.
The winner of the award will be announced during the Stanley Cup final.
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