Connor Hellebuyck earns second career vezina trophy
Winnipeg Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck has won the 2024 Vezina Trophy - an honour bestowed upon the NHL's top goaltender, as voted on by the general managers of all 32 NHL teams at the end of the regular season.
Hellebuyck took 31 of 32 first place votes while receiving one second place vote. Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko and Florida Panthers veteran Sergei Bobrovsky were the other two finalists.
Hellebuyck had one of the best seasons of his career, rocking a .921 save percentage and a 2.39 goals against average through 60 games in the regular season - his best numbers since his 2019-20 Vezina winning season.
“Helle” also took home the William M. Jennings Trophy for allowing the fewest goals during the regular season. A usual shared award with the backup goaltender was won solely by Hellebuyck, as Laurent Brossoit didn’t reach the threshold of 25 games played.
The reason for that is simple: Hellebuyck is a workhorse.
Hellebuyck has played in at least 60 games in each of the last three seasons. This season he allowed three or fewer goals in a ridiculous 50 of his 60 total appearances, including a pair of 10-game streaks with two or fewer allowed, something that hasn't happened since the 1943-44 season.
Hellebuyck was the first Vezina Winner in Jets/Thrashers history when he won the prize in 2020. He now joins Bobrovsky as the only active netminders with two.
Despite a rough postseason with a .870 save percentage and a 5.23 goals against average, this is a nice reminder of how dominant the now 31-year-old backstop can be against the best in the world.
Hellebuyck also took home Hart votes – an award given to the NHL's MVP – finishing sixth in voting behind the likes of Nathan MacKinnon, Nikita Kucherov, Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews and Artemi Panarin.
Last offseason, Hellebuyck signed a seven-year, $59.5 million contract extension with the Jets, which has a no-movement clause through the first three years of the deal, and a modified no-trade clause through the last four.
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