Saros Deserves Consideration for Vezina Trophy as NHL's Top Goaltender

Pekka Rinne may have backstopped the Predators to their 31st and final victory of the 2020-21 regular season on Monday night, but his protégé had 21 of those wins to his name, and he deserves to be in conversation for the Vezina Trophy because of his heroics.
The Preds always believed Juuse Saros would one day be a starting goaltender in the NHL, and over the past four months, the 26-year-old Finn has proved them right. In particular, Saros played an invaluable role in Nashville's turnaround in the second half of the season that saw them go 20-7-1 down the stretch to clinch the fourth and final postseason spot in the Central Division.
Simply put, the Predators would not be preparing to face the Carolina Hurricanes in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the coming days if it weren't for Saros.
For that reason - and so many more - he deserves consideration as the NHL's top goaltender.

To start, his 21 wins in a pandemic-shortened 56-game season set a career high in the category, as are his 2.28 goals-against average and .927 save percentage in 35 games started.
Among NHL goaltenders who have played in at least 25 games, Saros is tied for second in save percentage (.927), tied for fifth in shutouts (3) and goals-against average (2.28) and sixth in wins (21). Additionally, he leads NHL goalies in even-strength save percentage (.942).
Analytically, Saros is third in the NHL in goals saved above average at 20.65, per hockey-reference.com. Translation: he should probably be allowing more goals than he actually is, a key factor in Nashville's postseason berth.

In his last 26 appearances - nearly 50 percent of Nashville's season, dating back to Feb. 27 - Saros is 18-6-1 with a 1.88 goals-against average, .941 save percentage and three shutouts. He's allowed only 48 goals on his last 819 shots faced and has only allowed two-or-fewer goals in 20 of his last 26 starts.
The 5-foot-11 netminder's 1-0 win versus Dallas on May 1 was his third shutout of the season and 14th of his NHL career, the most among League goaltenders his age or younger. In fact, Saros has now recorded at least three shutouts in each of his last four seasons; his 13 shutouts since the start of the 2017-18 season are tied for the ninth-most in the NHL.
Just one goaltender with more than 30 games played - Semyon Varlamov of the Islanders - has a higher save percentage than Saros's .927 mark.
Yes, there are other netminders around the League who have played similarly important roles for their clubs over the past four months, but during the portion of the season when the games matter most? No one has been better at stopping pucks.
That's why he deserves consideration to be nominated as one of the NHL's best in net.
Rinne has taught Saros plenty over the years. Perhaps he's helped to craft another Vezina contender, too.