The 2026-27 NHL season is right around the corner, and Andrei Vasilevskiy [https://www.nhl.com/lightning/player/andrei-vasilevskiy-8476883] is closing in on another piece of NHL history. The Lightning star enters the season just 30 wins away from becoming the fastest goaltender in league history to reach 400 career wins. Vasilevskiy is coming off another historic season, winning the 2025-26 Vezina Trophy, awarded annually to the NHL’s top goaltender. It marked the second Vezina Trophy of his career, with his first coming after the 2018-19 season. The 31-year-old has now been named a Vezina Trophy finalist six times. His performance helped guide the Lightning to their ninth consecutive playoff appearance, tied for the longest active postseason streak in the NHL. At the end of last season, Vasilevskiy didn’t hide his disappointment after the Lightning’s seven-game, first-round series loss to a young Montreal Canadiens team. “Our big players should be our best players on the ice,” he said during his end-of-season media availability. As the offseason began, he turned his attention toward preparing for the 2026-27 season. “I went back home for a few weeks and saw family and friends,” he said [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/tampa-bay-lightning/latest-news/andrei-vasilevskiy-eager-to-get-back-with-lightning-after-offseason-reset]. “I came back to Tampa about a month ago, and since then I’ve been skating and working out. Nothing too crazy this time.” Now, Vasilevskiy has 400 career wins within reach as he enters the 2026-27 season. The countdown begins when the Lightning open the regular season on Oct. 1 against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Before then, they’ll play a four-game preseason schedule beginning Sept. 20, with two games against the Nashville Predators and two against their in-state rival, the Florida Panthers.
