By For the second time in his Hall of Fame career, Andrei Vasilevskiy has been named the NHL’s best goaltender, winning the 2025-26 Vezina Trophy and further cementing his legacy as one of the greatest goalies of his generation.
The award is voted on by the league’s general managers, recognizing the best goaltender in the NHL.
Vasilevskiy convincingly earned the honor, receiving the majority of first-place votes and finishing ahead of fellow finalists Ilya Sorokin and Jeremy Swayman.
After a rough start to the season, Vasilevskiy settled in and played like the Vasilevskiy of old. His athleticism, positioning, and calm demeanor under pressure gave the Lightning a chance to win every night.
During one stretch from late December through February, he posted a remarkable 20-1-1 record while shutting down opponents and allowing two goals or fewer in the vast majority of his starts.
Vasilevskiy led the League with 39 wins and finished with a .912 save percentage and a 2.31 goals-against-average. He finished second in every statistic among goalies with at least 45 starts. This was the second time that Vasilevskiy has won the award in his career. He previously won the award in 2018-19.
Vasilevskiy helped the Lightning to a second-place finish in the Atlantic Division with a 50-26-6 record and was quick to give credit to his teammates for his second career Vezina Trophy.
“I’m really grateful. Professionally, this is one of your ultimate goals, but it’s all about the team. It takes a lot to have a good defensive team. I can’t say enough about this organization, the trainers, coaches, the fans, it’s a team award.”
Vasileviskiy continued, “It’s all about the team, and you will never win this award without a good team in front of you. That means a lot to me.”
During a remarkable stretch from December 20 through February 25, he posted a 19-1-1 record while consistently shutting down opponents and allowing two goals or fewer in the vast majority of his starts.
Vasilevskiy has been a finalist for the award six times in his career, and this was the second time in his career that he has taken home the Vezina Trophy.
The 31-year-old netminder is one of just three active goaltenders to win the award more than once, joining Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky and Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck.
The Vezina Trophy has been awarded to the best goaltender since the 1981-82 season. Only five of those players have won multiple Stanley Cups and multiple Vezinas.
Three of those goalies, Dominik Hasek, Patrick Roy, and Martin Brodeur, are all Hall of Fame goalies. Sergi Bobrovsky and Vasilevskiy are two other goalies to accomplish that feat.
Vasilevskiy and Roy are the only goaltenders to have also won a Conn Smythe Trophy.
The two-time Vezina winner continues to build a Hall of Fame résumé. His combination of regular-season excellence, playoff success, championships, and individual awards places him among the elite goaltenders of his era.
As long as No. 88 stands in the crease, the Lightning will have a chance to win every night, and the rest of the NHL will continue searching for answers against one of the game’s all-time great goaltenders.
