Connor Hellebuyck Wins 2020 Vezina Trophy over Tuukka Rask, Andrei Vasilevskiy

Matt Slocum/Associated Press

Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck was the best goaltender in the NHL during the 2019-20 season—at least in the eyes of the league’s general managers.

Hellebuyck took home the Vezina Trophy over fellow finalists Tuukka Rask of the Boston Bruins and Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday.

Here’s a look at the voting breakdown:

Gabriel Fernandez and Shanna McCarriston of CBS Sports noted the Vezina Trophy goes to the “goaltender judged to be the best at his position” by the GMs who vote.

It was no surprise Vasilevskiy was a finalist after he turned in another impressive season.

Last year’s Vezina winner has been a finalist and All-Star three straight times. What’s more, he extended his stretch of leading the league in wins to three successive years behind a 35-14-3 record to go with a goals-against average of 2.56 and a .917 save percentage.

Greg Wyshynski of ESPN noted the Tampa Bay goaltender was looking to become the league’s first back-to-back Vezina winner since Martin Brodeur did so from 2006-08.

Vasilevskiy was at his best when he ripped off a 19-0-2 stretch to put the Lightning near the top of the league’s standings, and their 92 points when play was suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic were the second-most in the Eastern Conference behind the Boston Bruins.

The Bruins had 100 points in large part due to Rask’s efforts.

The Finn and backup Jaroslav Halak captured the William M. Jennings Trophy as the goaltenders with the fewest goals against for the season, and the 2013-14 Vezina winner finished the regular season with a 26-8-6 record, .929 save percentage and 2.12 goals-against average mark that led the league.

Rask is now third on the all-time list behind Dominik Hasek and Johnny Bower with a career-save percentage of .922.

While Hellebuyck cannot match Rask’s overall resume to this point, he earned his second career All-Star selection this season while leading the league with 58 games played, six shutouts, 1,656 saves and 1,796 shots faced.

Unlike the other finalists, he was vying for his first career Vezina and finished with a 31-21-5 record, .922 save percentage and 2.57 goals-against average.

The Jets finished with 80 points and earned an invite to the league’s restart plan largely because of his efforts in goal throughout the season. Wyshynski called him the “favorite” for the award and pointed to his ability to continue playing well even after Winnipeg lost four of its six defensemen from the 2018-19 campaign.

Hellebuyck accounted for a head-turning 83.8 percent of the Jets’ 38 wins this season in an impressive individual showing.