Elliotte Friedman Shares Shocking Vezina Winning Pick
Although Linus Ullmark has had one of the best seasons by a goaltender, maybe ever, insider Elliotte Friedman revealed a very surprising Vezina pick.
What More Does Ullmark Have to Do?
Ullmark currently leads goalies in the league in wins (40), GAA (1.89) and SV% (.938) and will be the first goalie since Carey Price in 2015 to achieve the NHL's unofficial Triple Crown. (Along with being the only goalie to score a goal this season).
However, that didn't stop Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman from sharing quite the take on who should take home the hardware for the league's best goaltenders. Friedman shared the following while on The Jeff Marek Show Wednesday morning:
Hellebuyck, 29, has had an amazing season and unlike Ullmark, has arguably been more valuable to his team, in a sense. However, he's 11th in GAA (2.49), 5th in SV% (.920) and third in wins (37).
According to moneypuck.com, the Jets' netminder also ranks 4th in maybe the most telling goalie stat, which is Goals Saved Above Expections (GSAx), while Ullmark is second.
Odd that playing an impressive 13 games in a row is more deserving of a Vezina Trophy than an entire season of records and milestones that Ullmark has set this seasons. It's almost unfair that he's somewhat �'punished'' for having the league leading Boston team in front of him, while he's been a huge part of all that success.
Not to take away from Hellebuyck's amazing season but even other goalies such as Ilya Sorokin and Juuse Saros are more deserving.
Let's hope NHL GMs - the one's who actually vote for the winner - don't think the same as Friedman!
What are your thoughts?
| POLL | ||
Who SHOULD win the Vezina this season? | ||
| Ullmark | 516 | 97.7 % |
| Hellebuyck | 8 | 1.5 % |
| Sorokin | 1 | 0.2 % |
| Saros | 3 | 0.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
