With his second nomination in three years, Winnipeg Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck has earned the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goaltender.
Finishing second in voting back in 2018 courtesy of a dominant 64-win season that saw him post a .924 save percentage and six shutouts, Hellebuyck found that elite form again in 2019-20, putting up a .922 save percentage and six shutouts once again.
However, this time around, he did it without the star-studded blueline that manned the defensive zone in front of him in 2018, with marquee 2018 roster players like Dustin Byfuglien, Jacob Trouba and Tyler Myers all moving on from Winnipeg in the off-season.
Hellebuyck becomes the first Winnipeg Jets player to ever claim the award, and the first from any Canadian team since Carey Price won it in 2015. A native of Commerce, Mich., Hellebuyck is also the first American to win the award since fellow Michigan natives Tim Thomas and Ryan Miller went back-to-back-to-back with wins from 2009–11.
The Jets netminder beat out veteran Tuukka Rask and Stanley Cup finalist Andrei Vasilevskiy for the 2020 award.
