Tampa Bay Lightning: 5 burning questions for 2018-19 season

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WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 17: Andrei Vasilevskiy #88 of the Tampa Bay Lightning celebrates with his teammates Steven Stamkos #91 and Nikita Kucherov #86 after defeating the Washington Capitals 4-2 in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Final during the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Capital One Arena on May 17, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images) /

2. Will Vasilevskiy have another Vezina-caliber season?

It may seem foolish to ask this question after how outstanding he was this past season, but you never know with goaltenders. Sometimes, one can have an outstanding season like Vasilevskiy just had and then follow it up with just average numbers. Vasilevskiy had the best season of his career as he was 44-17-3 with a .920 save percentage and eight shutouts. He ended up finishing third in Vezina voting. In the playoffs, he was 11-6 with a .918 save percentage. At 5v5 last season, he had a .930 save percentage, which is outstanding. It’s his best save percentage at even-strength throughout his career so far.

He was a major reason why the Lightning came within a game of going back to the Stanley Cup Final again. The only reason he didn’t win the Vezina last year was that Pekka Rinne was 42-13-4 for Nashville and .938 at even-strength for them. When a goaltender is almost .940 for a team at 5v5, it’s very hard for him to not win the Vezina.

Vasilevskiy is all set up to potentially win a Vezina this season, and the odds of him having another season like he just did are very high. Sure, he can always regress to potentially league average numbers, but with the way he’s played so far, it wouldn’t be smart to bet on him doing that. He has a great team in front of him and the ability to stand on his head if need be. He’s definitely one of the Vezina favorites going into this season and can get hot at any time.

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