The race for the Vezina Trophy has come down to three elite names this season. On April 29, 2026 (Wednesday), the NHL announced three finalists for the trophy.

The 2025–26 NHL regular season has ended, and the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs is now underway. The top contenders for the Vezina Trophy have been announced. In this piece, we will focus on those three names ranked by The Hockey News. Let’s get started.

Three Finalists Who Can Win The Vezina Trophy This Season

Before we begin, know that the Vezina Trophy goes to the best goaltender of the season. All 32 NHL general managers vote to choose the winner.

Ilya Sorokin (Top Contender to Win Vezina Trophy)

According to The Hockey News, New York Islanders’ goalie Ilya Sorokin is one of the top contenders to win the Vezina Trophy. In fact, according to the analysts, this year, the best goalie award will go to him.

This season, he posted a .906 save percentage and a 2.68 GAA. Some goalies had better numbers, but his team was not very strong, which makes his performance very impressive.

Based on impact, he was one of the most impressive goalies this year. He helped the New York Islanders stay competitive. The team finished sixth in the Eastern Conference Wild Card Division standings during the regular season.

Andrei Vasilevskiy

The Tampa Bay Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy has a strong chance to win his second Vezina Trophy. He won the title in 2018-19 as well. Last year, his performance was not very good, but this season he has improved a lot.

In the 2024–25 season, he had a .921 save percentage and a 2.18 GAA. In the 2025–26 season, he recorded a .912 save percentage and a 2.31 GAA. Vasilevskiy also led all goalies with 39 wins and ranked fourth in goals saved above expected.

He is one of the top contenders for the award and is in a close race with Ilya Sorokin for the title.

Jeremy Swayman

The Boston Bruins’ goalie, Jeremy Swayman, might not be as strong a contender to win the title as the other two, but he has done well to be placed in the finalist's list. He had a very weak season with a high GAA and a low save percentage.

He had a contract problem with his team earlier. But this season, he came back strong and played much better. He recorded a .908 save percentage and a 2.71 goals-against average.

The goalie also ranked second in the NHL in goals saved above expected, which shows how many difficult saves he made. He is playing well in the playoffs as well. But the Vezina Trophy only considers regular-season performance, not playoffs.

So these are the top three finalists for the Vezina Trophy this season. The surprising part is that the last two-time best goaltender, Connor Hellebuyck from the Winnipeg Jets, is not even in the top three this time.

So, what do you think? Who will win the best goalie title among these three? Share your prediction in the comments.

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Written by

Kapil Manghnani

Edited by

Kaamna Dwivedi