Friday Four: Vezina Trophy favorites

With the NHL season having been paused on March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus, Kevin Weekes continues his Friday Four. The former goalie and current NHL Network analyst will be blogging about four of his favorite or memorable items on a certain topic. Today, he discusses goalies he thinks should be in the conversation for the Vezina Trophy.

Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets

What Hellebuyck has been able to do with the Jets, who lost four regular defensemen since last season (Jacob Trouba, Tyler Myers, Ben Chiarot, Dustin Byfuglien), has been amazing. He finished second in the NHL with 31 wins, second in save percentage among goalies with at least 35 games played (.922) and led the League with six shutouts.

This might even be better than Hellebuyck's performance in 2017-18, when he set the NHL record for wins in a season by a United States-born goalie and was a Vezina finalist, going 44-11-9 with a 2.36 goals-against average, .924 save percentage and six shutouts.

Winnipeg is well-coached, but when you lose the pieces it lost and still make it to the Stanley Cup Qualifiers, it falls largely on the goalie.

Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins

The Bruins (44-14-12, .714 points percentage when the season was paused) won the Presidents' Trophy, awarded to the team with the best regular-season record, and Rask was a big part of it. Though he played 41 games, not as many as some other top goalies, he was 26-8-6 and led the NHL in goals-against average (2.12, minimum 35 games played) and was second in save percentage (.929), just behind Anton Khudobin of the Dallas Stars (.930 in 30 games).

Rask began the season with a 20-game home point streak (14-0-6) and produced despite goalie Jaroslav Halak starting 31 games for Boston. I think Rask should be a finalist for the second time in his career, having won the award in 2013-14.

Jordan Binnington, St. Louis Blues

Despite the Blues behind hampered by injuries this season, Binnington, who played in the All-Star Game, didn't slow down after his emergence as a rookie last season on the way to St. Louis' first Stanley Cup championship. He was 30-13-7 this season with a 2.56 GAA, .912 save percentage and three shutouts to help the Blues (42-19-10, .662 points percentage) finish with the best record in the Western Conference.

Even if Binnington doesn't turn out to be a Vezina finalist this season, I'm sure he will be in the future.

Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay Lightning

Vasilevskiy, who won the Vezina last season (39-10-4, 2.40 GAA, .925 save percentage, six shutouts) should be a finalist for a third straight time. He had great numbers again this season, going 35-14-3 with a 2.56 GAA, .917 save percentage and three shutouts. He led the NHL in wins and had a 21-game point streak from Dec. 17- Feb. 15, going 19-0-2. The Lightning (43-21-6, .657 points percentage) weren't as dominant as they were in 2018-19, but once they hit their stride, Vasilevskiy hit his as well.

HONORABLE MENTION

Jacob Markstrom of the Vancouver Canucks deserves to be in the conversation but I think missing time because of a lower-body injury will keep him on the outside looking in. He was 23-16-4 with a 2.75 GAA, .918 save percentage and two shutouts in 43 starts to help the Canucks (36-27-6, .565 points percentage) advance to the Stanley Cup Qualifiers.