As we at Last Word continue our award articles concurrently with the 2024 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs as we move to the best odds for the Vezina Trophy for 2023-24. The Vezina Trophy is awarded to the goaltender who was the best in the NHL’s regular season. Moreover, it is largely statistically based, as how else could you quantify the significance of a particular goalie’s performance. However, we could add that one of those statistics could be WIN%, or somewhat dependent on the team aspect of a goalies play. For the list of candidates below, there is little questioning the choices given the seasons they had. So sit back, and see if you agree, disagree, or agree to disagree.
Previous winners
| YEAR | Name | Team |
| 22-23 | Linus Ullmark | Boston Bruins |
| 21-22 | Igor Shesterkin | New York Rangers |
| 20-21 | Marc-Andre Fleury | Vegas Golden Knights |
| 19-20 | Connor Hellebuyck | Winnipeg Jets |
| 18-19 | Andrei Vasilevskiy | Tampa Bay Lightning |
2024 Vezina Trophy finalists, as voted by NHL GMs: Sergei Bobrovsky (FLA), Thatcher Demko (VAN) and Connor Hellebuyck (WPG). pic.twitter.com/3ZEpeXwOyy
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) April 29, 2024
The Three Candidates Vezina Trophy Odds in 2023-24
Connor Hellebuyck
Connor is one the best goalies in the NHL and played his best in 2023-24, and is the odds-on favourite to take home the Vezina Trophy. He played 60 games and had 37 wins and between the tandem with Laurent Brossoit took home the William Jennings Trophy. Furthermore, he did it with a .921 SV% and earned five shutouts on the year. Hellebuyck was the runaway leader in one important statistical metric, Goals Saved Above Average. If you save more shots than you should, additively throughout the season, you consistently outperform the competition. Therefore, wins ultimately. Hellebuyck had 32 GSAA, whereas second place Thatcher Demko of the Vancouver Canucks only had 21. This would be Hellebuyck’s second career Vezina Trophy, and odds are he will take it down. Ever since Hellebuyck arrived in the league he has been known as a top flite goaltender and his strong season should be enough to secure the title as the league’s top netminder.
Thatcher Demko
Thatcher Demko is just another one of the Vancouver Canucks stars. Elias Pettersson, J.T. Miller, and Quinn Hughes, are a who’s, who when it comes to top-30 NHLers. You’re only supposed to have one of them, right? Demko had an incredible 35-14-2 record on the season, with five shutouts. In addition, he had a .918 SV%. However, as good of a season as Demko had, he will likely be in a fight for second place in the voting.
Sergei Bobrovsky
That other person Demko will be battling it out for second with is Sergei Bobrovsky. The Florida Panthers are a 2024 NHL Stanley Cup champion favourite, and one reason is their goaltender. He played 58 games with a 2.37 GAA and a .915 SV%. Perhaps the only deterrent of his for the voters, is his dominant team in front of him. In contrast, that does nothing to takeaway from Bobrovsky’s awesome play, which we will continue to enjoy as the playoffs go on.
The Other Guys
The list of top goaltenders this season didn’t really gain any new members. Andrei Vasilevskiy, or Igor Shesterkin, were at their pinnacle at times. However, not quite sustained enough to garner top recognition. Next up for best goaltenders, the Boston Bruins. Well it does kind of hint at a theme, that tight goaltending might be more team defensive structure dependent than we’d like to admit. Jeremy Swayman is a very talented goaltender. However, he was not as strong this year overall as Connor Hellebuyck. One of the underestimated aspects of Hellebuyck’s game was his 60 games played. The league seems to have shifted, from maybe 15 years ago when Martin Brodeur or Roberto Luongo could consistently play 70 games plus a season. Swayman only played 44. Not really Vezina worthy. Moreover, Swayman had an exceptional .916 SV% on the year with a 16.4 GSAA. Last year, Linus Ullmark took home the league’s Jennings award. If you are comparing the two of Swayman and Demko. Swayman might be more talented (slightly), but Demko is a gamer. Also, the Bruins have a much more defensively structured system, than pretty well any one. Demko and Swayman will battle it out for second place in voting likely. Other goaltenders include Adin Hill or Jordan Binnington. Both had fine seasons in their own rights, but not quite at the same level as the top-three names we mentioned.
Main photo: Terrence Lee-USA TODAY Sports
