Hellebuyck wins 2nd Vezina Trophy as NHL's top goaltender
Winnipeg Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck is the 2024 winner of the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's top goaltender.
Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko and Florida Panthers veteran Sergei Bobrovsky were the other two finalists. The general managers of all 32 NHL teams vote on the honor at the end of the regular season.
Here's how the voting unfolded:
Connor Hellebuyck got 31 of 32 first-place votes for the Vezina Trophy. pic.twitter.com/vVvwLrKarP
- luke fox (@lukefoxjukebox) June 27, 2024
A two-time winner of the hardware, Hellebuyck won his first Vezina Trophy in 2020.
The 31-year-old was once again a workhorse for the Jets this season as they secured their second 100-point campaign in franchise history. Hellebuyck appeared in the third-most games (60) and faced the the third-most shots (1,798) in the league while posting 37 victories. Despite his hefty workload, he tied for third in save percentage (.921) and sixth in goals against average (2.39) among all goalies to appear in at least 20 games during the regular season.
Hellebuyck also led his peers in goals saved above average (29.35), goals saved above expected (39.35), wins above replacement (6.8), and goals above replacement (41.5) by a wide margin.
He took home the William M. Jennings Trophy after Winnipeg allowed the fewest goals against (198) in the NHL.
Demko, meanwhile, was named a finalist for the Vezina Trophy for the first time after registering a .918 save percentage and 2.45 goals against average across 51 appearances. He recorded 35 victories, only three off Alexandar Georgiev for the league lead, despite missing 14 games with a knee injury.
Lastly, Bobrovsky has won the honor twice in his career, most recently in 2017. He was in contention for the hardware this season after logging 36 wins along with a .915 save percentage and 2.37 goals against average. His six shutouts were tied for the most in the league.
Linus Ullmark won the Vezina Trophy last season as a member of the Boston Bruins.
(Analytics source: Evolving-Hockey)
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