Lightning’s Andrei Vasilevskiy voted best overall goaltender in NHLPA Player Poll

Andrei Vasilevskiy has been recognized by his peers.

As part of the NHL Players’ Association’s annual player poll, the Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender has been voted as the league’s best overall netminder, receiving more than 31 percent of the 636 votes cast.

This season, the two-time Stanley Cup champion has continued his dominance between the pipes where through 62 outings he has put together a 37-20-5 showing coupled with a .921 save percentage, 2.18 goals-against average, and six shutouts to help the Lightning claim their eighth consecutive postseason berth.

Originally chosen 19th overall by Tampa Bay in the 2012 NHL Draft, the 30-year-old Russian-born goaltender has since played part of 11 seasons counting 539 total appearances in which he has found the win column 330 times, the most ever by a Lightning goaltender, alongside a career .917 save percentage, 2.52 goals-against average, and 40 shutouts. Of note, in 2018-19, Vasilevskiy was presented with the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s Goaltender of the Year after he finished with a 39-10-4 record coupled with .925 save percentage, 2.40 goals-against average, and six shutouts. Vasilevskiy also finished as a Vezina Trophy finalist in 2018, 2020, and 2021.

Vasilevskiy’s success has also carried over to the postseason underscored by the Lightning’s 2021 Stanley Cup championship run that saw the star netminder take home the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP after he put together a dominant showing in which he won 16 of 23 games while posting a .937 save percentage, 1.90 goals-against average, and five shutouts.

Beyond Vasilevskiy, also receiving support in the NHLPA poll included runner-up Igor Shesterkin of the New York Rangers at 23.58 percent, Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets at 15.57 percent, reigning Stanley Cup winner Sergei Bobrovsky of the Florida Panthers at 8.18 percent, as well as Nashville Predators netminder Juuse Saros at 4.4 percent.