Hellebuyck won’t win the Vezina Trophy over Rinne, but he should
By C.L. Kohuss
On Tuesday, the NHL revealed its three finalists for the Vezina Trophy, awarded to the best goaltender during the regular season. While Nashville Predators netminder Pekka Rinne is a likely choice to take it home, Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck should be the one building himself a trophy case.
Off the bat, Pekka Rinne was phenomenal this year. At 35, he’s having one of the best seasons of his life. He maxed out at 42 wins, his save percentage of .927 is the highest he’s posted in 10 years and his eight shutouts are a career mark. Not to mention the sparkling 2.31 goals against average. His Nashville Predators also topped the NHL in points to take home the President’s Trophy. Coupled with the fact that Rinne has been one of the best in the NHL forever and he’s never actually won the Vezina, you won’t find many who are surprised if he gets the nod.
But he shouldn’t. Not over Winnipeg Jets stud Connor Hellebuyck.
The argument against Hellebuyck could certainly equate to the fact that his numbers are slightly worse than Rinne’s. He posted two more wins to finish with 44, but also tallied a slightly higher goals against average at 2.36. His save percentage is .924 and he posted six shutouts. Yet he also played in eight more games than Rinne, with 67. So the worsening percentages should be expected, though obviously you’d like to find a few more wins in there, as well.
But here’s where we aren’t sold on Rinne over Hellebuyck. For one, and it may not be fair, Rinne has lost before with equal or better numbers. In fact, he’s been nominated four times now, including this season. In 2015, he lost out to the Montreal Canadiens’ Carey Price while offering a goals against average of 2.18 and a .923 save percentage. He had 41 wins, as well. It just so happened that Price was playing even more out of his mind than Rinne.
2012 was similar; though he put up 43 in the win column, he ultimately fell behind two guys posting sub-2.00 goals against average marks. Which is really to say that this race isn’t a lock, or at least it shouldn’t be. It should never be solely about the numbers, anyway.
The sticking point should be the defense. Specifically the fact that Rinne plays behind a far more superior blue line than Hellebuyck.
We know, you don’t always get to choose who plays in front of you. It isn’t a knock on Rinne. But it’s difficult to argue for as opposed to against when his defense is considerably more adept at doing the hockey thing. That happens when you have Roman Josi and P.K. Subban manning things. Check out any “best NHL defense” list, and the Preds are likely either first or top three.
In fact, had Subban been playing for the Predators in 2015, the year Rinne lost to Carey Price, the Norris Trophy voting would have seen Subban, Predator at the time Shea Weber and Josi going three, four and five respectively.
That’s three Predators in the top five in best defenseman voting. Yeesh. How much better does it really get on the back end? Think of the possibilities had they kept Seth Jones. And that’s not a one time thing. Josi and Subban are regular Norris candidates. They figure to be for a long time. Both are fantastic players.
Who does Hellebuyck have after Dustin Byfuglien? Tyler Myers? Josh Morrissey? Byfuglien is marvelous and garners his own accolades and Norris votes, but the drop off beyond is steep. Young defenseman Jacob Trouba could be a difference-maker, if he ever played a full season. The former first rounder has played over 65 games only once in five seasons. Myers is 28 and really hit or miss any given year. He’s offered plus ratings to end the year, such as this one where he doled out a plus nine with 36 points. He’s also laid a horrid minus 26 and minus 15 before. That isn’t confidence-inducing.
To us, the award should be judged in the same vain as the Hart Trophy — which team couldn’t live without its starting goaltender? That isn’t to explicitly express that Nashville would have made it had someone else been in net for it. We don’t know. But does Winnipeg make it so far on the strength of Myers and Byfuglien alone on the blue line? Doubtful. You think backup Steve Mason was going to carry this team behind Toby Enstrom and Morrissey? Stop it. Maybe if he were playing with Josi, Subban and Ryan Ellis.
Backup and fourth rounder for Nashville Juuse Saros has been excellent his last two seasons, posting a .925 save percentage and 2.44 goals against average in 26 games this year alone, while dotting similar numbers last year. Coincidence? Maybe. But we all know how good the Predators defense is. What would his stats be for the Jets?
Who is truly more valuable to their team? Rinne? Or Hellebuyck?
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