New roster additions help Rangers' Igor Shesterkin appear to be the best bet early on in the 2025-6 Vezina trophy race.
As the 2025-26 NHL season draws closer, the race for the Vezina Trophy, awarded to the league's top goaltender, is intensifying with early contenders already sprouting out of the sportsbooks. FanDuel's current odds show the top contenders for the award with no surprises at the top with Winnipeg's Connor Hellebuyck at +310 odds.
As with any preseason futures market, some odds represent true value with hidden gems with potential to surprise while others may be inflated due to hype or uncertain ice time. We look to break down the best and worst bets on the board, and highlight some sneaky value picks who could emerge as serious threats in the Vezina race as the season unfolds.
Current Vezina Odds (FanDuel Sportsbook)
- Connor Hellebuyck +310
- Igor Shesterkin +650
- Andrei Vasilevsky +750
- Jake Oettinger +1500
- Dustin Wolf +1500
- Logan Thompson +1600
- Darcy Kuemper +1900
- Sergei Bobrovsky +1900
- Jacob Markstrom +2100
- Ilya Sorokin +2100
- Anthony Stolarz +2800
- Filip Gustavsson +2800
- Mackenzie Blackwood +2800
- Jordan Binnington +3500
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Best Bet: Igor Shesterkin (+650)
Back in the 2021-22 season, the Rangers goaltender was far-and-away the best at his position with an absurd 36-14-4 record along with a 2.07 goals against average and a .935 save percentage. It was a dominant effort out of the Russian netminder and has since then he has remained in the picture for the award every season. That was until the ongoing conflicts on the team last year, Shesterkin finished with a 27-29-5 record with a 2.86 goals against average.
Before the Rangers had imploded, he was the most dominant force in the sport with an 109-43-14 record including a 2.39 goals against average and a .921 save percentage over the prior three seasons. I expect a return to this level of play with significant improvements to the defence corps with LA's Vladislav Gavrikov. Adding arguably the best defensive defenceman in the league will help any goaltender but his impact isn't truly realized as to how great it is.
He posted a +26 plus/minus, which ranked among the top 12 in the NHL, averaged just over 23 minutes per game, the second-most on the Kings, and led the team in blocked shots with 140, which ranked 36th in the league. Gavrikov should also drastically improve New York's special teams after he logging the third-most shorthanded minutes across the NHL, at almost 270 minutes on the kill, underlining his value as one of the league's best penalty killers.
He and new bench boss in two-time Stanley Cup winner Mike Sullivan should be able to lift this Rangers team out of their hole from last season that saw their defence that finished bottom 14 in the league last season and help put Shesterkin in a position to succeed.
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Worst Bet: Connor Hellebuyck (+310)
There is no debate that as of right now, Hellebuyck is the best goalie in the sport of hockey. However, many great goaltenders have come-and-gone with only two ever in history winning the award three times in a row. A pair of hall-of-fame talents in Jacques Plante (1956-1960) and Dominik Hasek (1997-1999) were ever able to do it but don't see the Jets goaltender getting it done after losing his most impactful forward unit.
Winnipeg's third line of Nino Niederreiter, Mason Appleton and Adam Lowry were a physical, hard-checking line that dominated the NHL for years, playing a tough brand of hockey that rarely allowed goals. Of any line in the NHL that played 500 or more minutes together this past season, the Jets trio finished with the least amount of goals allowed with 12 through 544 minutes of ice-time. The season prior, it was again the same line leading the way with only 15 goals allowed through 682 minutes of ice-time.
With Lowry sidelined with a serious injury and Appleton off to the Red Wings, it's hard to say if another group will be able to come in and make reliable stops late in games when the Jets need to ice things out.
Sneaky Bet: Jake Oettinger (+1500)
A new coach and a desire to prove himself is what Oettinger has going for himself entering the 2025-26 season. The 26-year-old Minnesota native has come close to nabbing the coveted award with several stellar seasons but just being a step removed from putting the nail in the coffin. Since 2021-22, he is third in the NHL for wins with a 138-58-20 record plus a 2.55 goals against average and a .912 save percentage that both just barely trail the likes of Hellebuyck and Tampa Bay's Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Oettinger has 35 or more wins in three straight seasons and with the Stars setting themselves up for another run at the cup, it's only a matter of time that their goaltender puts together a league-best season. If he is able to make a couple adjustments to narrowly cut down on mistakes and close the gap between himself and the other highest end goalies, then he will win the Vezina trophy.
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