NHL Vezina Trophy Rankings: Western Conference on top

Some of the NHL's very best goaltenders have started the 2023-24 season uncharacteristically slowly, which has so far made for a very open Vezina Trophy race. Of course, this won't be the case for the whole season, but we're getting a better picture of the competition that might be lurking.

If one thing is for certain, though, the Eastern Conference has definitely had the weaker goaltending between the two conferences to this point. Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark have been as good for the Boston Bruins as they were last season, and Carter Hart has been strong for the Philadelphia Flyers. Joseph Woll's journey is only just getting started, but Ilya Sorokin and Igor Shesterkin have both fallen victim to slow starts.

Now, let's rank some goalies.

Tier 3: In the Vezina Trophy conversation

10. Igor Shesterkin, New York Rangers
9. Ilya Sorokin, New York Islanders
8. Carter Hart, Philadelphia Flyers
7. Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets
6. Karel Vejmelka, Arizona Coyotes
5. Thatcher Demko, Vancouver Canucks
4. Jeremy Swayman, Boston Bruins

Tier 2: Vezina Trophy frontrunner

3. Jake Oettinger, Dallas Stars

Jake Oettinger has only played in four games so far for the Dallas Stars, but his performances have been impressive. The 24-year-old is 3-0-1 with a 1.44 goals against average and a 0.952 save percentage, and according to Moneypuck, he's tied for third in the NHL in Goals Saved Above Expected with Tampa Bay's Jonas Johansson (6.2).

However, Johansson will be ceding time to former Vezina Trophy winner Andrei Vasilevskiy once the Russian is back healthy, whereas Oettinger has already recovered from his offseason surgery and is looking spry with a more manageable workload. The Stars' young netminder is coming off of a career year where he set personal bests in games played (62), wins (37), save percentage (0.919), and shutouts (5). That body of work caught up to him in the spring and down the stretch, as he allowed 8.9 more goals than expected in the postseason - the worst mark in the NHL.

The lack of a true starter's workload might hurt Oettinger's chances, but it's highly likely that if backup Scott Wedgewood continues to struggle like he has in his two appearances, the Stars will ramp that up. For now, Oettinger is definitely towards the top of this list.