Barring a dramatic turnaround, we’ll not only have a new Vezina Trophy winner in 2015, we’ll have three new finalists.
If you’ll recall, the finalists for last season were Colorado’s Semyon Varlamov, Tampa Bay’s Ben Bishop, and eventual winner Tuukka Rask of Boston, thanks in large part to save percentages of .927, .924, and .930, respectively.
This season, however, those save percentages are .911, .911, and .911, respectively. (Yep, all three are the same.)
In a related story, the Avalanche and Bruins are currently on the outside of the playoff picture after winning their divisions last season, while the Lightning are fortunate to have the league’s top offense to outscore their 22nd-ranked team save percentage.
According to online bookmaker Bovada, Pekka Rinne (3/2), Carey Price (7/2), and Marc-Andre Fleury (7/2) are the favorites to win the Vezina this season.
Related: A brief post on the unpredictable nature of goaltending