Injuries and a crumbling defensive core derailed the reigning champion's pursuit of a third straight trophy, as a career-worst save percentage left the star netminder off every ballot.
For the first time in four years, Connor Hellebuyck's name was absent from the Vezina Trophy voting.
The Winnipeg Jets netminder, who had become synonymous with the award after back-to-back wins, could not secure a single vote from NHL general managers this season as Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy claimed the hardware with a dominant 39-15-4 record, a 2.31 goals against average and a .912 save percentage.
Hellebuyck's 2025-26 campaign was easily the most difficult of his career, finishing with a 23-23-11 record, 2.86 goals against average and a .895 save percentage through 57 games. It also marked the first time in his career he dipped below the .900 mark in a stark departure from the Vezina-caliber performances that had defined him as the best goaltender in the league over the last few seasons.
Injuries played a significant role in his struggles as Hellebuyck underwent arthroscopic knee surgery in November that kept him off the ice for roughly three weeks. The injury bug continued to hit the Jets hard as three of Winnipeg's core four defensemen, Josh Morrissey, Neal Pionk and Dylan Samberg, all missed significant time, leaving Dylan DeMelo as the only one to play all 82 games.
The Jets were out of the race for the playoffs and further compounded their blue line issues at the trade deadline by shipping breakout defender Logan Stanley to the Buffalo Sabres, which continued to strip away the structure in front of their franchise goaltender.
Hellebuyck entered the season chasing a third consecutive Vezina Trophy and would have been an extraordinary achievement but instead, the season became a reminder of just how much team defense and goaltender health are intertwined, even for a player of his caliber.
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