The Minnesota Wild will have their well-documented dead cap hinder them for another two seasons. Ryan Kennedy and Mike Stephens discuss the Wild's biggest storylines. Ilya Sorokin [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAwNTg1NTI4Njc5MDgxMzM2/usatsi_20450628.jpg] Ilya Sorokin In his first seven NHL seasons, Linus Ullmark didn't receive a single vote for the Vezina Trophy. That changed dramatically last year. The now 30-year-old played a career-high 49 games and led all NHL netminders in save percentage (.938), goals-against average (1.89), wins (40, tied with Alexandar Georgiev) — and goals (one, against Vancouver on Feb. 25). In his second season with the Boston Bruins, Ullmark made GM Don Sweeney look like a genius for signing him to a four-year deal with a $5-million cap hit. Sweeney's fellow GMs paid tribute by voting Ullmark the runaway winner of the 2023 Vezina Trophy. He collected 22 of 30 first-place votes on the ballots that were cast. With such a small voting pool for the Vezina and the fact that GMs are only required to name their top three candidates, only a handful of goalies receive recognition in any given year. With that being said, the voters do like to share the wealth. The only active goalie with two Vezinas to his name is Sergei Bobrovsky (2013 and 2017). There hasn't been a back-to-back Vezina winner since Martin Brodeur won the third and fourth trophies of his Hall of Fame career in 2007 and 2008. That trend will likely continue in 2024. The Bruins' historic 2022-23 campaign seems destined to be unrepeatable, especially after the retirement of both Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci. So — keeping a sharp eye out for newer names, and knowing that a list of five is far too short to properly acknowledge all the Vezina candidates for the 2023-24 season, here's a way-too-early rundown of the top contenders. 1. ILYA SOROKIN, NEW YORK ISLANDERS Ilya Sorokin was the GMs' second choice last season. He received three first-place Vezina votes as well as 17 second-place mentions — 12 more than any other contender. After three seasons and 136 games, the 28-year-old has career averages of 2.34 goals against and a .924 save percentage. And those numbers just so happen to be identical to his stats from last season when he appeared in a career-high 62 games and led the NHL with six shutouts. There's some skepticism about whether Sorokin's New York Islanders can improve this season while running it back with a near-identical lineup. But familiarity can be a good thing for goaltenders. Sorokin should have all the security he could ask for with partner Semyon Varlamov set to return for four more years and his own new $66-million contract extension already filed with the NHL offices. The Isles' starter is in a good spot to take another step forward and capture his first Vezina in 2023-24. 2. IGOR SHESTERKIN, NEW YORK RANGERS With just one spot available on this list for a past Vezina winner, Igor Shesterkin narrowly edged out Andrei Vasilevskiy and Connor Hellebuyck. The league's two busiest goalies [https://www.nhl.com/stats/goalies?reportType=season&seasonFrom=20152016&seasonTo=20222023&gameType=2&filter=gamesPlayed,gte,1&sort=timeOnIce&page=0&pageSize=50] over the past eight years have both had ample rest and recovery time this off-season, which has been a rarity for Vasilevskiy in particular in recent years. Meanwhile, contract-year Hellebuyck has plenty of motivation to raise his game above his already elite standards as he heads toward potential free agency at age 31. Shesterkin makes the list over them because of the New York Rangers' coaching change. Peter Laviolette is expected to give the Blueshirts a tighter defensive structure, which should make for a better working environment for Shesterkin and his new partner, Jonathan Quick. In 2022, Shesterkin earned 29 of 32 first-place Vezina votes thanks to his 2.07 GAA and .935 save percentage. Zoom out, and his career numbers are nearly as impressive: 2.37 and .924 over 158 games and four seasons. The next win for the 27-year-old will be the 100th of his NHL career. Shesterkin has established himself as a superb stopper in a very short period of time, and he's just getting started. 3. ALEXANDAR GEORGIEV, COLORADO AVALANCHE Initially signed as a free agent by the Rangers in 2017, Georgiev started his journey with the club two years before Shesterkin arrived. Once it became apparent that Shesterkin was going to take over from Henrik Lundqvist as the team's next starter, Georgiev requested a trade. He found an excellent landing spot in Colorado. Though the Avalanche's first-round playoff loss last spring was disappointing, the Bulgarian stopper proved that he has what it takes to be a starter on a Stanley Cup contender. Appearing in 62 games, he tied Ullmark for the league lead in wins, with 40, while posting career bests with a .919 save percentage and 2.53 GAA. And he stayed healthy amid an injury-ravaged season for the Avalanche. Now rested and healthy, the 2022 Stanley Cup champs should be back with a vengeance this fall. Going into the season with 191 career games played, Georgiev sits at 98 career wins. It'll be interesting to see whether he passes his old partner Shesterkin in that category by season's end. 4. JUUSE SAROS, NASHVILLE PREDATORS Over the last two seasons, no goalie has played more than Juuse Saros — or been more effective to his team. In 2022-23, Saros led the NHL in total games and minutes played — and in goals saved above expected, according to moneypuck.com [https://moneypuck.com/goalies.htm]. He did it on a Nashville Predators team that was decimated by injuries, then saw its roster depleted further by an aggressive trade-deadline sell-off. Saros's heroics kept the Preds alive in the playoff race until the bitter end. They ended up missing by just three points. It's a fresh start for the Preds this fall, with plenty of new faces in the lineup and Andrew Brunette holding the coaching reins. At 28, Saros is in the same age range as the three goalies above him on this list but has logged a much larger body of work — already at 286 games played and 147 wins. After finishing sixth, third and fourth in Vezina voting over the last three seasons, this could be the year that Saros pushes all the way to the top. 5. FILIP GUSTAVSSON, MINNESOTA WILD If a goalie is going to come out of nowhere to capture the 2024 Vezina like Ullmark did, Filip Gustavsson could be the guy. The 25-year-old has just 66 NHL games on his resumé so far, but 39 of them came last year. In his debut campaign with the Minnesota Wild, he went 22-9-7 with a .931 save percentage, 2.10 GAA and 24.2 goals saved above expected. Last season, Gustavsson formed an effective tandem with Marc-Andre Fleury, who appeared in 46 games and also put up decent numbers. That pairing remains intact, but with Fleury set to turn 39 in November, don't be surprised if the workload shifts more heavily toward Gustavsson — especially after he got the lion's share of the action for Minnesota in the playoffs. Now locked up for three years at a cap hit of $3.75 million, Gustavsson could quickly become one of the NHL's great bargains if he continues his progression and carves out a case for inclusion in the Vezina voting next spring.
