An NHL veteran just ignited a major Vezina controversy with his blunt reaction

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Vincent Carbonneau
June 6, 2026  (2:38 PM)

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Photo credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images

Tony DeAngelo didn't wait long to back Peter DeBoer's Islanders after Andrei Vasilevskiy beat Ilya Sorokin for the Vezina.

The NHL announced Vasilevskiy as the 2025-26 winner on Saturday, and DeAngelo turned it into a real debate within minutes.

That's the part that jumps. This wasn't a fan account or a talk-show rant. This came from a player who spent the season in the same room as Sorokin and saw the workload every night.

DeAngelo played 76 games for the Islanders and put up 35 points from the blue line. He had a front-row seat for the way Sorokin kept New York in games that were tilting the wrong way.

His message was blunt: «Vasy is a great goalie & well deserving of a Vezina every year but there's no way Roky wasn't the best goalie in the NHL this season.»

That line matters because Sorokin's case was never built only on clean surface numbers. It was built on difficulty, volume, and the nights he kept the Islanders from slipping out of the fight.

The Islanders finished 43-34-5. Sorokin still gave them 29 wins and 7 shutouts, which is why this result is going to stay hot for a while.

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On the raw stat sheet, Vasilevskiy had the edge with a .912 save percentage and a 2.27 goals-against average. Sorokin finished at .906 and 2.68, so the official call is easy to defend.

But that's not where DeAngelo is planting his flag. Sorokin posted a .864 save percentage against high-danger chances, while Vasilevskiy came in at .844.

That gap is where the argument gets loud. Sorokin was dealing with the hardest looks and still surviving them better than anyone else in the field.

The eye test backs that up. Sorokin had too many nights where the crease was chaos, the slot was open, and the Islanders still had a chance because he erased second and third looks.

Vasilevskiy winning a second Vezina won't shock anybody. He's still one of the biggest game-breakers in net, and his body of work carries weight with general managers.

But DeAngelo's reaction lands because it hits the part of the award fans always fight over. Is it the goalie with the cleaner season on the better team, or the one dragging more of the load?

That's why this one won't cool off soon. DeAngelo didn't just defend a former teammate. He shoved Sorokin right back into the center of the argument.

Previously

What Elliotte Friedman just revealed could have massive implications for the Oilers

Hockey world mourns the loss of longtime 14-year NHL veteran at age 79

Scene involving Gavin McKenna at the NHL draft combine is raising serious questions

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1 HOUR AGO   |   81 ANSWERS An NHL veteran just ignited a major Vezina controversy with his blunt reaction Did Ilya Sorokin deserve the Vezina over Andrei Vasilevskiy ?

▢    Yes

▢    No

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