As the 2025-26 season marches on, award season, at least between the pipes, is starting to take shape. January has arguably made it a two-goalie race for the Vezina Trophy, with one or two candidates with a chance to get back in it.Â
With the month nearing a close, the two leading candidates are Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy and New York Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin. With an outside chance, we look to Washington Capitals goalie Logan Thompson and Colorado Avalanche goalie Scott Wedgewood.
Let’s look at the two main candidates and two outside candidates as part of the first edition of the end-of-month check-in. All stats for this month are as of Jan. 27.
Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay Lightning
Death, taxes and Vasilevskiy. His back healed up, and before we knew it, he was back in contention to be the top goalie in the NHL. He dealt with another injury in the preseason, but it didn’t hold him back for long. His candidacy isn’t inevitable, but it’s proven to be close.
At the start of the season, he was a mess and looked like someone who had missed most of the time others got to ramp up. After October, he had an .899 save percentage (SV%), and the advanced stats weren’t helping him either. Despite the strong start, he boasts a .920 SV%, which leads all goalies who have played at least 18 games. His goals against average (GAA) of 2.07 leads the NHL regardless of games played.
A strong January only strengthens his case. He has posted a .939 SV% through nine games, and none of those games have been losses in regulation. A popular advanced stat helps him, too. His goals saved above expected (GSAx) of 21.7 is second in the NHL. The goalie ahead of him in that category is someone we’ll address in a moment.
The Lightning have been nearly unbeatable since the New Year, and he’s been a key part in making this team the wagon that it is. A second Vezina is within reach for now.
Ilya Sorokin, New York Islanders
Sorokin is in the hunt for his first Vezina. His best finish was being the runner-up to Linus Ullmark in the 2022-23 season. At the very least, he’s on track for his second time being a finalist.
Related: NHL 2025-26 Power Rankings: Week 16
Like Vasilevskiy, Sorokin had a slow start. His was even worse, with an .877 SV% by the end of October. Since then, he’s boosted his SV% up to .916, and he leads the NHL with a 24.8 GSAx. He also boasts a league-leading six shutouts to Vasilevskiy’s two.
In January, he’s posted a .935 SV% in seven games, with three shutouts. He’s played out of mind, and that isn’t an understatement. The Islanders are a top-three team in the Metropolitan Division, and his standing for the award is warranted.
Logan Thompson, Washington Capitals
The Capitals aren’t looking as good as they did last season, but Thompson isn’t a culprit as he’s posting a respectable .914 SV% and a 2.34 GAA. What gives him a strong boost is his 18.2 GSAx, which is third in the NHL.
In January, he has posted a .910 through nine games. Washington is 3-5-1 in that span, but again, it’s hard to fault him. He could very well end up finishing as a Vezina finalist, which would be a step up from his fourth-place finish last season.
Scott Wedgewood, Colorado Avalanche
Wedgewood has had a good season, and while his team has come down to earth recently, they were a force heading into the New Year. Considering they had just two losses in regulation until Jan. 4, it’s not a shock that Wedgewood and Nathan MacKinnon have garnered award-season attention.
The Avalanche goalie is second in the NHL with a .918 SV% and a 2.14 GAA. His GSAx lags behind his leading counterparts, but 10.2 is still good for the eighth-best in the NHL. At this time, based on the narrative of the season, he or Thompson would likely be a finalist along with Vasilevskiy and Sorokin.
What arguably knocks him down a peg, funny enough, is the team he plays on. It’s the inverse situation Thompson is in. He’s good, but the team around him is also one of the best in the league. Being on the Avalanche is arguably a goalie’s cheat code. Just as Philipp Grubauer (the most recent Avalanche Vezina finalist), Darcy Kuemper, Mackenzie Blackwood, and Alexandar Georgiev. The last one listed struggled two seasons ago, and it didn’t matter.
Up until this season, Grubauer has struggled. Kuemper has had one good season since leaving Colorado. Blackwood is the backup and playing well, but Georgiev is already back in Russia. How Wedgewood would look elsewhere is anyone’s guess. What we know is the Avalanche have been very plug-and-play with their goalies for a while, and that hasn’t gone unnoticed. It will impact his standing when award season comes.
As of now, these are your four contenders for the Vezina Trophy. How this changes depends on how the period between now and the end of February plays out. We’ll see you all again on March 1 for the next tracker.
