Althought the NHL season may be a month and a half away, there's never a bad time to check out who the top candidates are for the Vezina trophy next season which goes to the best goaltender in the NHL. Let's take a look at the top candidates for the Vezina trophy next season.
Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers- Surprised, right? Henrik Lundqvist is the best goaltender in the world and he proved that during the regular season and in the playoffs where he was unstoppable. He put the New York Rangers on his back when they were down and out against the Penguins and that continued all the way to the Stanley Cup Final where the Kings finally eliminated the Rangers in game five in double overtime. Look for King Henrik to have a another great season for the Rangers.
Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles Kings- Jonathan Quick had another good season with the Kings where he had 27 wins and a 2.06 GAA. His save percentage was lower than Martin Jones who's the backup to Quick at .915. Quick started shaky in the playoffs where he had numbers that rivaled Marc-Andre Fleury's from the Flyer's series in 2012 but Quick rebounded in games four through seven and did a reverse sweep on the Sharks and came back from 3-0 down in the series. He did good in all of the other series as well and was outstanding in the Stanley Cup Final. He'll be a strong candidate again for this trophy next season.
Tuukka Rask, Boston Bruins- The reigning Vezina trophy winner can easily win this trophy again next year with another year like he had this year. Rask was unbelievable during the regular season where he had 36 wins and a 2.04 GAA. His save percentage was also one of the highest in the league at .930. Rask has shown these past couple seasons that he is a top three goaltender. The next step for him is to prove to the hockey world that he is the best goaltender in the world.
Carey Price, Montreal Canadians- Carey Price is slowly but surely proving to the rest of the NHL that he's a top five goaltender. He had one of his best seasons last year in the NHL and the olympics. He was unstoppable for team Canada when they won the Gold medal. During the regular season, he had 34 wins and .946 save percentage which is right up there at the top of the league. He will surely have another great season this year and even though he doesn't have a Vezina trophy yet, I'll guarantee to all of you that read this that he will win one before his career is over. I'll put money on it.
Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus Blue Jackets- "Bob" won the Vezina trophy in 2013 when the Blue Jackets almost made the playoffs and he was going to be the reason why he got them there. He could have easily won it again if he had a year like that but it wasn't meant to be. Even though he did have a great season for Columbus and finally got them to the playoffs, his numbers were a little lower than the season where he won the Vezina trophy. His GAA was a little higher at 2.38 and his wins were a little less at 32. Still, he's one of the best goaltenders in the game and should again be a serious contender for the Vezina trophy.
Cory Schneider, New Jersey Devils- Schneider is easily on this list and for good reason. He's one of the most underrated goaltenders in the NHL and had a very stellar season last year for the Devils. He would have easily won more games and maybe be a candidate for the Vezina if the Devils would have stopped playing Marty Brodeur just because it was maybe his last season in the NHL. Brodeur really wasn't giving them a chance to win every night and Schneider was. Since he's the true number one goaltender for the Devils this year, he should put up some very good stats. He's a BIG dark house for the Vezina.
Pekka Rinne, Nashville Predators- Pekka Rinne is coming off a season where he missed over 40 games for the Nashville Predators with a hip injury. He slowly but surely is coming back into form but the question is, is that can he regain his top form from a couple years ago and be a top three goaltender? Anything is possible but he needs to have an injury free season to even have a chance at the Vezina.
Ben Bishop, Tampa Bay Lightning- Ben Bishop had his best season of his career this year and was one of the three finalists for the Vezina. He would have most likely won it this year if not for a really bad injury he suffered at the end of the season that forced him to miss the playoff series against the Canadians where they got swept. He would have made a huge difference in the series if he played. Steve Yzerman awarded Bishop a two year extension this offseason since he didn't want Bishop to hit the open market this coming offseason. Bishop is again another big dark horse for the Vezina.
Semyon Varlamov, Colorado Avalanche- People can make an arguement that Varlamov should have won the Vezina because he had better stats than both Rask and Bishop and frankly their right that he should have won. Varlamov was a huge reason why the Avalanche made the playoffs for the first time in a few seasons and pretty much rejuvenated Denver. Their fans got a glimpse of what could be in store for the future which is advancing far into the playoffs. They'll need Varlamov to be on the top of his game for that though.
Jimmy Howard, Detroit Red Wings- This is probably the biggest longshot to win the Vezina but there's always a chance that it could happen. Howard had a decent season last year only have 21 wins and his GAA being a little high with 2.66. Expect a much better season from Howard in net for the Wings this season.