Trophy Tracker: Vasilevskiy of Lightning choice for Vezina as top goalie

To mark the three-quarter point of the 2025-26 regular season, NHL.com is running its fourth installment of the Trophy Tracker series this week. Today, we look at the race for the Vezina Trophy, given annually to the top goalie in the NHL as selected by NHL general managers.

Andrei Vasilevskiy already has carved out a career worthy of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

A two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Tampa Bay Lightning (2020, 2021), he also won the Vezina Trophy in 2019, one of the five times he's been a finalist in his 12 NHL seasons.

At age 31, Vasilevskiy is as good now as he's ever been, which is why he was the choice of a 16-person NHL.com panel to win the Vezina through the three-quarter point of the season.

Vasilevskiy received 71 voting points, including 11 first-place votes. Ilya Sorokin of the New York Islanders was second with 61 points (four). Logan Thompson of the Washington Capitals, who led the vote at midseason, was third with 30 and John Gibson of the Detroit Red Wings was fourth with 16 (one).

"He's just outstanding," Lightning defenseman J.J. Moser said of Vasilevskiy. "He's the best in the League, and the things he does where he can get us out of certain situations where we break down a little bit is just phenomenal."

Vasilevskiy is one of the biggest reasons the Lightning (39-20-4) have spent most of the season near the top of the Atlantic Division. Among the 47 goalies to play at least 25 games, he's the only one to rank in the top five in the NHL in wins (29, second), goals-against average (2.32, second) and save percentage (.913, tied for fourth).

His .851 high-danger save percentage is fifth, his 26 starts with a save percentage of at least .900 are tied for fourth, according to NHL EDGE Stats, and per NHL Stats has allowed two goals or fewer 26 times in 43 starts, tied with Thompson and the Philadelphia Flyers Dan Vladar for first.

Vasilevskiy's best run of the season came from Dec. 20-Feb. 25, when he went 17-0-1 with a 1.90 GAA and .925 save percentage in 18 games. Tampa Bay went 20-1-1 to go from third in the division, two points behind the first-place Red Wings, to an eight-point lead.

The last goalie with a point streak longer was Vasilevskiy, who had a 21-game run from Dec. 17, 2019, to Feb. 15, 2020.

Along the way, Vasilevskiy moved into 24th in NHL history with 360 wins and passed Nikolai Khabibulin (333) and Evgeni Nabokov (353) for second among Russia-born goalies behind Sergei Bobrovsky (452).

If Vasilevskiy wins the Vezina this season, he'd join Bobrovsky as the only goalies from Russia to win the award more than once and become the third non-North America born goalie to win it multiple times, joining Bobrovsky (two) and Dominik Hasek (six).

"He's been the backbone for this team this year," Lightning defenseman Darren Raddysh said. "He does it all and I think he's the best goalie in the world. Having him back there gives us a lot of confidence to be aggressive and try to play the way we want to play and just know that he's going to be there to stop pucks."

Voting totals (points awarded on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis): Andrei Vasilevskiy, Lightning, 71 points (11 first-place votes); Ilya Sorokin, Islanders 61 (4); Logan Thompson, Capitals, 30; John Gibson, Red Wings, 16 (1); Scott Wedgewood, Colorado Avalanche, 15; Karel Vejmelka, Utah Mammoth, 15; Brandon Bussi, Carolina Hurricanes, 13; Jeremy Swayman, Boston Bruins, 7; Igor Shesterkin, New York Rangers, 6; Filip Gustavsson, Minnesota Wild, 5; Dan Vladar, Philadelphia Flyers, 1

NHL.com independent correspondent Corey Long contributed to this report