Lightning’s Andrei Vasilevskiy named 2026 Vezina Trophy winner
Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy has been named the winner of the 2026 Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goaltender.
Vasilevskiy, 31, posted a 39-15-4 record, two shutouts, and a .912 save percentage in 58 games with the Lightning during the 2025-26 regular season. The 6’4″ goaltender went 3-4 with an .897 save percentage in seven games during the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The NHL’s general managers vote on the Vezina Trophy each year. Vasilevskiy received 17 first-place votes for the award, nine more than second-place finisher Ilya Sorokin, and finished with more than twice as many points as fellow finalists Sorokin and Jeremy Swayman.
Vasilevskiy was presented with the award as part of a surprise involving members of the Tampa Bay police outside the Lightning’s home rink, Benchmark International Arena.
A special surprise for Andrei Vasilevskiy! 🏆 #NHLAwards Andrei Vasilevskiy is the winner of the Vezina Trophy for best goaltender for the second time in his career!
Vasilevskiy previously won the Vezina Trophy with the Lightning in 2019, and was also named a finalist in 2018, 2020, 2021, and 2025. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as NHL playoff MVP in 2021, when the Lightning won their second of two consecutive Stanley Cup championships.
A first-round pick (No. 19 overall) of the Lightning in the 2012 NHL Draft, Vasilevskiy has spent his entire NHL career to date in Tampa Bay and is under contract with the club through 2028 at a $9.5 million annual cap hit. He helped backstop the Lightning to a 50-26-6 record in 82 games this season, good for second place in the Atlantic Division.
A product of Tyumen, Russia, Vasilevskiy spent his formative developmental years playing in his home country before joining the Lightning for the 2014-15 season. He began his NHL career in Tampa Bay as Ben Bishop’s backup, appearing in just 40 games over his first two seasons and primarily sitting on the bench during the club’s run to the 2015 Stanley Cup Final.
Vasilevskiy gradually supplanted Bishop as the starter during the 2016-17 season and took over for good the following year. He helped the Lightning win the Presidents’ Trophy in 2019 before backstopping them to the Stanley Cup in 2020 and 2021, followed by another Final appearance in 2022.
In 598 career games over parts of 12 seasons with the Lightning, Vasilevskiy has managed a 370-178-39 record, 42 shutouts, and a .917 save percentage. He’s compiled a 70-54 record, eight shutouts, and a .917 save percentage in 127 playoff contests.
Vasilevskiy is the second member of the Lightning to win a major NHL award this spring, following head coach Jon Cooper, who captured the Jack Adams Award as the league’s coach of the year; meanwhile, winger Nikita Kucherov is still up for the Hart Trophy, given to the league’s most valuable player.