NHL reveals Vezina Trophy finalists as goalie race heats up
Ilya Sorokin gave Peter DeBoer a strong case Wednesday after the Islanders goalie was named a Vezina Trophy finalist.
The NHL announced Sorokin, Jeremy Swayman and Andrei Vasilevskiy as the 2025-26 finalists for the award handed to the League's top goalie.
Sorokin's case starts with volume and finish. He went 29-24-2 with a 2.68 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage in 55 games.
He also topped the NHL with 7 shutouts. That matters on a team that didn't spend the year blowing clubs out.
There's a deeper layer too. The Russian led the League in high-danger saves with 452 and posted an .864 high-danger save percentage.
That kind of workload changes a bench. When a goalie keeps erasing broken coverages and back-door looks, the whole room settles down.
Swayman and Vasilevskiy make this a real race
Jeremy Swayman isn't here as filler. He finished 31-18-4 with a 2.71 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage in 54 games for the Bruins.
He allowed 2 goals or fewer in 31 games and helped Boston climb back into the playoffs after missing out last season.
-
Then there's Andrei Vasilevskiy, who might have the cleanest headline stat of the group.
He is also the most likely to lead the Lightning to greater playoff success than Swayman with the Bruins, and Sorokin, who is out of the playoffs of course.
He went 39-15-4 and led the League in wins for the sixth time career-wise.
The Lightning starter also finished second in goals-against average at 2.12 and tied for fourth in save percentage at .912.
His strongest stretch may have locked the vote. From Dec. 20 to Feb. 25, he went 17-0-1 with a 1.90 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage.
So this isn't a soft finalist list. Sorokin is a second-time finalist, Swayman is here for the first time, and Vasilevskiy is back for the sixth.
Still, the Islanders' netminder owns the sharpest mix of eye test and workload. He was asked to clean up the hard stuff, over and over.
Who walks away with it? That answer won't come easy.
|
YESTERDAY
APRIL 29, 2026
| ||||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Pavel Dorofeyev | 3 | - | 3 | |
| Shea Theodore | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jack Eichel | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Clayton Keller | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Michael Carcone | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Lawson Crouse | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Kirby Dach | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Brendan Gallagher | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Dylan Guenther | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jake Guentzel | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Brett Howden | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Dominic James | 1 | - | 1 | |
| John Marino | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Alexandre Texier | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Cam York | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Zachary Bolduc | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Noah Cates | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Gage Goncalves | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Yanni Gourde | - | 1 | 1 | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||
| 2025-2026 NHL STANDINGS | ||||||
| GP | W | L | OL | PTS | ||
| Sabres | 82 | 50 | 23 | 9 | 109 | |
| Lightning | 82 | 50 | 26 | 6 | 106 | |
| Canadiens | 82 | 48 | 24 | 10 | 106 | |
| Bruins | 82 | 45 | 27 | 10 | 100 | |
| Senators | 82 | 44 | 27 | 11 | 99 | |
| Red Wings | 82 | 41 | 31 | 10 | 92 | |
| Panthers | 82 | 40 | 38 | 4 | 84 | |
| Maple Leafs | 82 | 32 | 36 | 14 | 78 | |
| GP | W | L | OL | PTS | ||
| Hurricanes | 82 | 53 | 22 | 7 | 113 | |
| Penguins | 82 | 41 | 25 | 16 | 98 | |
| Flyers | 82 | 43 | 27 | 12 | 98 | |
| Capitals | 82 | 43 | 30 | 9 | 95 | |
| Blue Jackets | 82 | 40 | 30 | 12 | 92 | |
| Islanders | 82 | 43 | 34 | 5 | 91 | |
| Devils | 82 | 42 | 37 | 3 | 87 | |
| Rangers | 82 | 34 | 39 | 9 | 77 | |
| GP | W | L | OL | PTS | ||
| Avalanche | 82 | 55 | 16 | 11 | 121 | |
| Stars | 82 | 50 | 20 | 12 | 112 | |
| Wild | 82 | 46 | 24 | 12 | 104 | |
| Mammoth | 82 | 43 | 33 | 6 | 92 | |
| Blues | 82 | 37 | 33 | 12 | 86 | |
| Predators | 82 | 38 | 34 | 10 | 86 | |
| Jets | 82 | 35 | 35 | 12 | 82 | |
| Blackhawks | 82 | 29 | 39 | 14 | 72 | |
| GP | W | L | OL | PTS | ||
| Golden Knights | 82 | 39 | 26 | 17 | 95 | |
| Oilers | 82 | 41 | 30 | 11 | 93 | |
| Ducks | 82 | 43 | 33 | 6 | 92 | |
| Kings | 82 | 35 | 27 | 20 | 90 | |
| Sharks | 82 | 39 | 35 | 8 | 86 | |
| Kraken | 82 | 34 | 37 | 11 | 79 | |
| Flames | 82 | 34 | 39 | 9 | 77 | |
| Canucks | 82 | 25 | 49 | 8 | 58 | |
COMPLETE STANDINGS | ||||||