The best season of Jeremy Swayman's career has earned him some awards recognition. The Boston Bruins netminder has been named one of three finalists for the Vezina Trophy, awarded annually to the best goalie in the NHL.
The other two finalists are Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Ilya Sorokin of the New York Islanders.
This is the first time Swayman has been a finalist for the Vezina, which is voted on by the league's 32 general managers. Vasilevskiy won the award in 2019 and has been a finalist five other times. Sorokin was also a finalist in 2023, finishing second to former Bruin Linus Ullmark.
Swayman had a career-high 31 wins this season, finishing with a 31-18-4 record to go along with a .908 save percentage and 2.71 goals-against average. Vasilevskiy, who is favored to win the award, led the NHL in wins, going 39-15-4 with a .912 save percentage and 2.31 GAA. Sorokin posted a 29-24-2 record, .906 save percentage and 2.68 GAA.
Looking at the more advanced stats, these were three of the top four goalies in goals saved above expected (GSAx), according to MoneyPuck. Swayman was second with 28.8 GSAx, Sorokin third at 25.3, and Vasilevskiy fourth at 24.7. Goals saved above expected accounts for both the quantity and quality of chances a goalie faces more than traditional stats.
Interestingly, the league leader in GSAx – Washington's Logan Thompson, at 29.3 – is not a Vezina finalist. Given how good his traditional stats were as well (31-21-6, .912 save percentage, 2.44 GAA), he certainly qualifies as a snub. This always figured to be a four-man race for three spots, and Thompson ended up as the odd man out.
