Vasilevskiy, Swayman, Sorokin named finalists for 2026 Vezina Trophy

The NHL has begun the process of announcing the nominees and finalists for the awards for the 2025-26 season, and after unveiling the list for the Ted Lindsay Award on Tuesday, the Vezina Trophy finalists were released Wednesday.

The winner of the award for the top goalie in the NHL this year will go to either the Tampa Bay Lightning‘s Andrei Vasilevskiy, Ilya Sorokin of the New York Islanders or Jeremy Swayman of the Boston Bruins.

Vasilevskiy, the only one of this year’s finalists to win the award previously, was the constant for a Lightning team that dealt with frequent injuries to its defense. The Russian went 39-15-4 with a .912 save percentage and 2.31 goals against average. Vasilevskiy won the Vezina in 2019.

The veteran helped guide the Lightning to another playoff appearance this season, and the Bolts are currently in a 2-2 tie in their first-round series against the Montreal Canadiens.

Swayman is also locked in a hard-fought first round series in the Atlantic Division, as his Bruins look to come from behind against the Buffalo Sabres. Swayman went 31-18-4 this season powered by a .908 SV% and 2.71 GAA.

During this year’s Stadium Series game in Tampa, Vasilevskiy and Swayman squared off in a fight.

Sorokin was not involved in the uptick of goaltending fisticuffs this season, but the Russian turned in another stellar season on Long Island. Sorokin nearly led the Islanders to the playoffs with his 29-24-2 campaign with a .906 SV% and 2.68 GAA.

Given out since 1926-27, the Vezina Trophy is presented annually “to the goaltender adjudged to be the best at his position.” In the 1981-82 campaign, the criteria for the award switched from which team’s goaltender(s) allowed the fewest in the league (now the criteria for the William M. Jennings Trophy), to this voting-based system. The Vezina Trophy is voted on by the NHL’s 32 general managers.

Last year, the Vezina went to Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck, who also claimed the Hart Trophy as the MVP of the entire league.