Vasilevskiy's Historic Second Vezina
Tampa Bay Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy Secures Second Vezina Trophy with NHL-Leading 39 Wins
Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy has won the 2026 Vezina Trophy, claiming his second career award as the NHL's best goalie. The New York Times reported that Vasilevskiy led the entire league with 39 wins this season, posting a 2.31 GAA and a .912 save percentage across 58 starts.
NHL general managers cast their votes overwhelmingly in his favor, giving Vasilevskiy 114 total points and 17 first-place votes. New York Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin finished second with 51 points, while Boston's Jeremy Swayman came in third with 46, according to TSN.
An 18-Game Streak That Locked Up the Trophy
Vasilevskiy's Vezina campaign was built on a remarkable stretch in the middle of the season. Starting December 20, 2025, he went 17-0-1 over 18 straight games without a regulation loss. That streak ran nearly two full months and put him far ahead of every other goalie in the Vezina conversation.
He finished the regular season with 35 games allowing two goals or fewer, according to The Score. Tampa Bay also clinched its ninth straight playoff berth — the longest active streak in the league — with Vasilevskiy earning his league-leading 39th win on April 5.
Trophy Delivered by K-9 Unit in Surprise Announcement
The announcement came with an unusual twist. On the morning of June 6, members of the Tampa Bay Police Department and a K-9 unit surprised Vasilevskiy outside Benchmark International Arena, delivering the Vezina Trophy in person. NHL.com reported the moment as part of a coordinated reveal.
Head coach Jon Cooper said Vasilevskiy "picks up his teammates with timely saves at the most pivotal times." General manager Julien BriseBois pointed to Vasilevskiy's 58 starts as proof of elite conditioning and durability for a team built around its goalie.
Vasilevskiy Joins a Very Short List of Multi-Time Winners
With this win, Vasilevskiy becomes the 24th goalie in NHL history to win the Vezina Trophy more than once. He joins just two other active goalies in that club: Florida's Sergei Bobrovsky, who won in 2013 and 2017, and Winnipeg's Connor Hellebuyck, who has won three times, according to The New York Times.
This is also Vasilevskiy's sixth time as a Vezina finalist. TSN noted that only Martin Brodeur (9 times), Patrick Roy (7), and Dominik Hasek (6) have matched or topped that level of consistency since the current voting format began in 1981-82.
Some Analysts Say Sorokin Was Undervalued by GMs
Not everyone agreed with the result. Some advanced stats analysts argued that Sorokin's "Goals Saved Above Expected" per 60 minutes was actually higher than Vasilevskiy's. Their case: Sorokin did more with less, playing behind a weaker Islanders defense than the one protecting Vasilevskiy in Tampa.
Critics say NHL general managers still lean too heavily on raw win totals when voting for the Vezina. Since the award is voted on by the league's 32 GMs — not writers or analysts — raw wins and workload carry significant weight. Vasilevskiy logged 3,430 minutes in net this season, more than both Sorokin and Swayman.
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