Andrei Vasilevskiy‘s second career Vezina Trophy did not go unquestioned by everyone around the league. The Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender was announced Saturday as the winner of the 2026 Vezina Trophy, which is awarded annually to the NHL’s top goaltender as voted by the league’s general managers.
Vasilevskiy earned the honor over fellow finalists Ilya Sorokin of the New York Islanders and Jeremy Swayman of the Boston Bruins. It was the second Vezina Trophy of his career after being named a finalist six times over the past nine seasons.
Shortly after the announcement, former NHL defenseman Tony DeAngelo took to X to voice his disagreement with the result.
“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,” DeAngelo wrote.
DeAngelo spent last season with the Islanders where he had a firsthand look at Sorokin’s performances. The pending unrestricted free agent appeared in 76 games and finished with five goals and 30 assists.
Looking at the season numbers Vasilevskiy had the advantage in several key categories. The Lightning netminder played 58 games and posted a .912 save percentage along with a 2.27 goals-against average. Sorokin, meanwhile finished with a .906 save percentage and a 2.68 goals-against average across 55 appearances.
One area where Sorokin held an edge was against high-danger scoring chances. He recorded a .864 save percentage in those situations, compared to Vasilevskiy’s .844 mark. Sorokin’s high-danger save percentage was the best among NHL goaltenders who played at least 25 games this season.
Why Andrei Vasilevskiy still earned the Vezina nod
While DeAngelo believed Sorokin should have won the award, Andrei Vasilevskiy’s season helps explain why NHL general managers voted in his favor.
The Lightning goaltender led the league with 39 wins in 58 starts and became just the sixth goalie in NHL history to record nine 30-win seasons. His streak of nine consecutive 30-win campaigns trails only Martin Brodeur’s run of 12 straight seasons.
Andrei Vasilevskiy received support on 28 of the 32 ballots cast by NHL general managers. It marked the sixth time he has been named a Vezina finalist and gave him the second Vezina Trophy of his career.
The latest honor also moved him into rare company. Andrei Vasilevskiy became the 24th goaltender in NHL history to win multiple Vezina Trophies and joined Sergei Bobrovsky and Connor Hellebuyck as the only active goalies with more than one.
His playoff results have not matched Tampa Bay’s championship years, with the Lightning exiting in the first round in each of the past four seasons. However, his consistency during the regular season has remained unchanged, and this year’s voting reflected that.
Edited by Sonali Verma
