Lightning’s Andrei Vasilevskiy’s play this year deserves more attention

While Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck is the consensus pick for the Vezina Trophy this year, another masked man has been exceptional this season.

Tampa Bay Lightning netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy certainly has the pedigree to be considered one of the best goaltenders in the world. However, after a bumpy 2023-24 season, many wondered if the Russian still had what it took to be at the top of his game.

Through five months, he has proven doubters wrong.

In 51 appearances, Vasilievskiy has a record of 30-18-3 with a 2.29 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage. Among goaltenders with over 25 games played, the 30-year-old is second in SV% behind Hellebuyck, also trailing the Jets’ backstop in wins as well. Vasilevskiy is also tied for second in shutouts this season, as his four donuts place him behind Hellebuyck’s six.

On Thursday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Lightning Insider Erik Erlendsson joined Tyler Yaremchuk and Frank Seravalli to discuss Vasilevskiy’s impressive season.

Erik Erlendsson: He’s back to being kind of the workhorse. He’s changed the way that he sort of approaches things. He doesn’t spend as much time in the gym. They’re giving him more morning skates off. They’re giving him a few more practices off to give him some additional rest opportunities because he is 30 years old now. As we all know, you start to get past 25, things don’t heal or recover quite as quickly as they did as we get older. So, he’s just been a steady rock…With the aggressiveness of bringing in players to help this team win a Cup, as long as you have a healthy 88 playing the way he is, you have a chance to be anybody, anytime, anywhere. That certainly has to go into your thought process as well.

You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…