Goaltender has been amazing in net in Vegas Golden Knight run to Stanley Cup Final
The Conn Smythe Conversations are a brief overview of a case being made for a player winning the Conn Smythe Trophy, if the Vegas Golden Knights win the series. Today, we look at the case for Adin Hill.
Since the Conn Smythe Trophy was introduced in the 1965, a goaltender has won the award 17 times – the second most by a position behind centerman.
Adin Hill will look to make it 18. His case is an interesting one, but one that can be made early in these Stanley Cup Finals.
Hill is 8-3 and has a 2.06 goals-against average (23 goals allowed) and a .938 save percentage. He has two shutouts, including one in the Western Conference Finals clincher and has been great in making timely saves for the Golden Knights.
The most recent goalie to win the award was Andrei Vasilevskiy for the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2021. So let’s compare his postseason to Hill’s and see if Hill has a chance at claiming the trophy.
In the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Vasilevskiy played 23 games in net for the Lightning. He went 16-7 with a .937 goals-against average with 44 goals allowed and five shutouts.
Save percentage and goals allowed wise, Hill is on par with Vasilevskiy and even Jonathan Quick in 2012.
The knock against Hill, however, is he came in halfway through the postseason and did not have the luxury of compiling a full playoff body of work. It’s a small knock, but a issue nonetheless.
Does Hill have a case to be a potential Conn Smythe Trophy winner? Of course. He will likely need to secure another shutout or a few one-goal games to really hammer home the point.