How historical season could earn Connor Hellebuyck the Vezina, Hart
Connor Hellebuyck has a chance to be the first goaltender to win back-to-back Vezina Trophies since Martin Brodeur in 2007 and 2008 and the first netminder to win the Hart Trophy since Carey Price in 2014-15. Adam Vingan puts Hellebuyck’s remarkable season in perspective.
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To save some time, the NHL can probably go ahead and engrave Connor Hellebuyck’s name on the Vezina Trophy.
Barring injury or an unforeseen collapse, Hellebuyck will win the award given to the league’s top goaltender for the second year in a row and third time in the past six years. New Jersey’s Martin Brodeur was the last repeat Vezina Trophy winner in 2007 and 2008. Hockey Hall of Famers Brodeur (four), Patrick Roy (three) and Dominik Hasek (six) are the only goaltenders who have won the award at least three times since general managers began voting on it in 1981-82.
Winnipeg’s franchise cornerstone could also receive serious consideration for the Hart Trophy, which has not been presented to a goaltender since 2014-15 (Montreal’s Carey Price).
“For the longest time I was just playing,” Hellebuyck told reporters last week after becoming the third-fastest goaltender in league history to reach 300 wins. “Taking it day-by-day, having fun, working hard and trying to get better. As you get a little older in this league and things start to happen and you start to achieve some things, that kind of sets in and you start to realize that you’re doing some great things.”
Hellebuyck leads all qualified goaltenders (minimum 10 games played) in wins (26), shutouts (six), goals-against average (2.02) and save percentage (.928). The last goaltender who finished a season atop the league in all four categories was Philadelphia’s Bob Froese in 1985-86. Three others have also pulled off that feat — Philadelphia’s Bernie Parent in 1973-74, as well as Montreal’s Ken Dryden in 1972-73 and Jacques Plante in 1958-59.
Hellebuyck has saved 25.2 goals above expected this season — five more than the next-closest goaltender, Washington’s Logan Thompson (20.2). His most outstanding performance came on Nov. 25, when he prevented 4.61 goals above expected in the Jets’ 4-1 win against the Minnesota Wild. (Only Columbus’ Elvis Merzlikins, who recorded 5.04 GSAE in a win last month against the Devils, has had a better single-game performance this season.)
There are no clear weaknesses in Hellebuyck’s game. He rarely allows soft goals; opponents have scored seven goals on 305 point shots against him (.977 save percentage). Only two of the seven were not screened. (Fourteen of the 69 total goals allowed by Hellebuyck have come from outside the slot.)
Teams have had some success when forcing Hellebuyck to move from his right to his left. Nine of the 15 seam goals Hellebuyck has allowed this season have come on west-to-east passes (from the shooter’s perspective). His .763 save percentage on those shots is not far above the league average of .755 and ranks 33rd out of 62 qualified goaltenders. But it requires that level of nitpicking to find flaws.
To the credit of Hellebuyck’s teammates, they have supported him with solid play at both ends. Winnipeg ranks ninth in expected goals against per game at 5-on-5 and 13th in all situations. The Jets’ top-ranked power play (32.3 per cent) makes up for their middle-of-the pack penalty kill (79 per cent). Hellebuyck has recorded 3.76 GSAE while shorthanded.
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To fully cement his place among the greats, Hellebuyck will have to take the Jets on another long playoff run. He has lost eight of 10 starts over the past two post-seasons, allowing 24 goals in five games against the Colorado Avalanche last spring. (Hellebuyck has responded by shutting out the Avalanche twice this season.)
Last week, Jets fans at Canada Life Centre serenaded Hellebuyck with “MVP” chants. Could he end the decade-long drought for goaltenders?
“I think there’s been other years that he should’ve gotten it and hasn’t,” Jets captain Adam Lowry told reporters Monday. “I think sometimes (voters) overlook the goaltending position, I guess because they have the Vezina. … He’s incredible. Every stat, everything I look at, he’s (at the) top of the league. He gives us a chance to win every night. We’re where we’re at in the standings largely because of how well he’s played.”
All stats via Sportlogiq
